So Contradictory
by Desperatembrace
Summary: Being a little on the strange side, Ichigo has always been more of a loner. When he moves to a different country and meets Grimmjow, he realizes there's more to his problem than he originally thought. He should be happy that he isn't going crazy, but...
1. So Strange

Wow... I wonder if there are as many of you guys reading this out there that are as psyched as I am. I'm just... really excited for a new Bleach Grimmichi story. With all of the reviews on the last chapter of Endure and Survive, I just... felt really _bad _about leaving the fandom behind momentarily. I knew that it wouldn't be the last time for me to write under it, but... it just made me want to kick-start writing on the fandom again... So I've been thinking for the past few months (during the midst of writing my Skip Beat story) about what kind of plot I should use for my next Bleach fic--and I was really torn!

So I posted that poll on my profile (about a week ago?) to see what you guys would prefer. For those who actually voted, thank you. I decided that I would do both... but make the winner my priority. (I'm actually writing this about... I dunno--3 weeks before polls are to close? I thought that I might as well get started, you know.) Anyways. Enough of my random babbling. I'm sure you guys want to get on to the story.

**Full Summary:** Being a little on the strange side, Ichigo has always been more of a loner. When he moves to a different country and meets Grimmjow, he realizes there's more to his problem than he originally thought. He should be happy that he wasn't going crazy, but... he couldn't help but wonder why it was Grimmjow of all people...

Started November 8th.

Completed November 9th.

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Pity.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 1**

**So Strange**

**

* * *

  
**

There was only way that one could summarize his existence: peculiar. He was anything _but _normal--the very definition of abnormal. He grew up that way, inevitably being singled out by his peers throughout his childhood, leaving little choice but to resort to self-isolation. He grew up without friends and became accustomed to the idea of depending on nobody but himself. It became normal for him to bow his head and ignore everyone around him.

Ichigo was always alone.

This eventually changed when he met Chad--another oddball singled out for his strange complexion and monumental height. They had hit it off pretty quickly during middle school, becoming an odd duo of friends that didn't quite know how to interact with each other. They proceeded through the necessary years of education relying on nobody but each other and themselves, getting into fights with pompous and self-absorbed punks who seemed to think that the weird pair were the perfect targets to pick on. They never expected the both of them to be rather well-versed in self-defense techniques and were usually pretty easily fended off.

Much of their time in high school passed in this fashion until they met a few open minded people who looked past their odd quirks. Ichigo's social circle expanded a bit more, but he still tended to keep to himself and was rather withdrawn, the few times he needed to talk to somebody still forwarded to Chad. He graduated from high school with nothing blindingly amazing to provide him assured passage into college--save for his near-perfect grades.

Now, a year after graduating from high school, is where Ichigo found himself in a bit of a hard spot.

The orange haired young man groaned, quickly becoming irritated. This was taking _way _too long. He was starting to regret the year off that he'd decided that he'd take after graduating. "I should have at least picked out which college I was going to go to and applied _before _I took a break..." he moaned, pushing the stack of papers away from himself and flopping back onto the couch.

"Yeah. You should have," a voice called from the doorway, inciting him to sit up from the cushions with a jolt. He turned a scowl on his younger sister, rolling his eyes. He knew that she was right, but he _wasn't _going to admit that out loud. "Give it up, Karin. What do you want?" He asked, feigning boredom. In reality, however, he was curious. She almost never disturbed him when he was looking through the horrendous stacks of college pamphlets, lists, and information sheets. To disturb him during something so frightfully annoying and irritatingly boring was tagged as an action that could be interpreted as, '_yes, I would like to be snapped at.'_ Therefore, his sisters and father avoided him when the stacks were out and this kept the family from bursting out in spontaneous conflict.

Karin held up the cordless phone and waved it slightly, raising an eyebrow. "Tatsuki is on the phone," she stated with a rather wry smile. Ichigo blinked and then rolled his eyes, a bit miffed--because he knew e_xactly _what was going on in his little sister's mind. His family had always known him to be an introvert, so when he had mentioned a female friend, they had immediately started up the cat-calls.

Quite annoying, really.

He held out a demanding hand, forcing her to walk over to the couch and silently reveling in the immature act as petty revenge. He was still peeved about how they seemed to insinuate a relationship between him and Tatsuki. Quite frankly, the thought was a tad scary. They had gotten into a scuffle once, and while he had ended up as victor of the clash, he had not come home without massive bruises. Needless to say, he had been in pretty bad pain for the next two or so days.

Now that he thought about it, he had actually been pretty sore for the next 2 _weeks._

Black hair was pulled back by an irked hand as Karin shoved the phone into Ichigo's hand and then turned and walked out of the room, muttering about lazy brothers and denial. He rolled his eyes once more before holding the phone up to his ear. "Yeah," he said into the phone, glancing back at the stacks of paper, chewing his bottom lip whilst trying to come to a decision.

"Hey," the girl on the other line said with an almost sullen tinge to her voice. Ichigo turned his full attention to the speaker on the other line and let out a sigh, knowing from her tone what she was going to say. "Look, Tatsuki, don't bother, it's--"

The voice interrupted him, still maintaining it's bland tone and said, "You got in." Ichigo took no heed to her words and continued, closing his eyes in a futile effort to physically shield himself from the emotional barrage. "--Really quite fine. I understand. There's no need to call back and console me and act all depressed for my sake. And... wait--what?"

On the other end of the connection, Tatsuki burst out in explosive laughter, making the red head on the other side of the world flinch away from the receiver. He tentatively pulled it back to his ear and his lips pulled into a familiar frown. "You ass. I seriously thought it was going to be bad news." Tatsuki finally began to calm her laughter, quelling a few quiet chuckles as she undoubtedly wiped tears from her eyes. "I know," she said, still trying to stop laughing. "That's kind of the point."

Ichigo sank back into the cushions, vaguely wondering when he had sat up rigidly in his seat. He blew out a relieved and disbelieving sigh. "So, I really made it? I really did it?" he asked, his head not able to catch up with the astonishing news. Tatsuki laughed once more, her rough chuckle inciting a wave of nostalgia and anxiety in Ichigo.

"Damn right, Mister Berry. Looks like I'll be seeing you over here soon, eh?" Her voice clearly let her emotions seep through, making it easier for him to imagine the bright smile that was surely stretched across her face. He stayed silent, ignoring the nickname in favor of sinking into a sense of shocked amazement for a few moments before saying, "Yeah. I guess so. I'll probably be there in about a month, then."

The sound of a tongue clicking reached him over the line. "Alrighty, then. I can't wait to introduce you to some of my friends..." She trailed off, seeming to sense what was coming next. As she predicted, Ichigo blew out a heavy sigh followed by a groan. "Tatsuki," he moaned pitifully. "Honestly, I don't want to date. I want to focus on getting my medical degree. Please stop introducing girls to me..." There was a moment of silence between the two before she responded cheekily with, "We'll see." Then the line went dead as she hung up.

He groaned, knowing that it wasn't enough incentive for the tom-boy to stop. Ichigo would undoubtedly have to deal with more covert set-up dates again, as he did back in his high school days. His lips pulled up into an excited grin at that. He was no longer in his high school days. He was, as of now, officially in his college days. He didn't even bother to restrain the delighted yell that had crawled up his throat and leaned forward to shove the papers that he had previously been toiling through to the floor.

No more looking through college status papers!

He had been officially accepted into Seireitei University. About a month ago, he had been doing the monthly call to Tatsuki, one of his few friends from high school. She had moved to Society City almost immediately after graduation and insisted on keeping in touch with Ichigo, thus establishing what she called the 'monthly call ritual'. During one of the calls, Ichigo had complained about not being able to get into any decent colleges over in Karakura and not liking the medical programs of the ones that he had been allowed into. Deciding on a whim, Tatsuki had gambled on registering her high school buddy in a prestigious University that was a few blocks down from her own college.

She had randomly bombed the information after she had already submitted the papers, insisting that it was a really good idea and that he should take whatever he could get. After doing a bit of research, Ichigo actually found himself _hoping _that he was accepted into the University. It had a distinguished medical program, and was a bit more lax in the requirements to be accepted (as compared to Karakura's universities).

He paused when his other little sister, Yuzu, appeared in the doorway. She allowed her already-bright smile to grow even wider and tilted her head to the side, almost-blond locks of hair falling into her face. "Good news?" She asked with a smile, already knowing the answer. He grinned and nodded, waving the phone for emphasis. "Tatsuki called. I'm in," he said, always straight and to the point. Yuzu laughed good-naturedly and brushed her hair behind her ear. "Congratulations," she said, glancing over to the stack of papers that he had purposely knocked over. She raised a questioning eyebrow, making him give a bit of a nervous laugh. He mumbled something she couldn't hear and then reached down to pick up the mess, simultaneously avoiding her gaze.

The girl merely shook her head before taking off to the kitchen to inform their other sister of the good news and start dinner. Maybe she'd call their father and let him know the news...

Ichigo, in his place on the floor, amongst the mess of papers that he had been half-heartedly attempting to straighten up, leaned back and allowed a content smile to cross his face, ecstatic and giddy from the future's prospects.

**

* * *

**

Ichigo looked up from the box that he had chucked in the back of the moving truck and eyed Chad, frowning slightly. "Are you _sure _you want to come with me?" He asked, for what Chad thought was the hundredth time. The tall, dark-skinned young man shook his head once more, blowing out what was his version of an amused chuckle.

"Yes," he said, meeting his friend's gaze squarely. "I'm sure. Where you go, I follow. I want to go." Chad shrugged before loading up the last of the boxes and pulling the rolling door shut and latching it securely. Ichigo allowed himself to wilt as he watched his closest friend go to the driver's door and start talking to the man, no doubt assuring the man that yes, the money had been payed and that he was to deliver the luggage to the airport.

Ichigo let out a relieved sigh, finally confident that Chad truly wanted to go, too. When he had informed his friend of his acceptance into Seireitei University, the tall man had immediately put in his own applications and had received a rejection a few weeks later. He had, however, been accepted into Rukongai University, the same school that Tatsuki was attending. The whole time Ichigo and Chad had been packing, the orange-haired man had constantly been asking, "Are you sure? Positive?" He wanted to make sure that Chad was not making a mistake.

And now, the day that they were to leave, he was finally sure.

He watched the truck leave with a bit of a vague smile, taking a quick once over of his life. He was accepted into a wonderful University, he was moving to an apartment that he would live in by himself (without his dad--a bonus!), and his closest, most trustworthy friend was staying in the same apartment complex--guaranteed to stay by his side.

Things were finally starting to look up.

**

* * *

**

"_Fuck."_

At this very moment in time, life seemed to be in the shit-hole for him.

He pulled back and raised a weary hand to his face, electric blue eyes locked onto a car of a similar color--if it could even be _called_ a car at this point. Grimmjow allowed his hand to slide down his face, painting an intense frown across his lips and closing his eyes.

_This _cannot _be happening... _he thought to himself, fervently wishing that he would wake up any time now. There was no such luck. He was downright pissed. But... oddly enough, when he stopped to think, there was a niggling worry at the back of his mind. He pushed the thoughts away.

Behind him, there was a shrill whistle as his step-sister came to a stop. She eyed his formerly-beautiful ride. Nel turned her sea-foam green eyes on him and raised an eyebrow, honestly trying her _hardest _not to smile in spite of herself. "Seems like you really pissed someone off, Grimmy." She ignored the twitch of his arm when his nickname was stated aloud and continued with, "So... I'm going to take a guess and say that this was... Mila-Rose?"

He growled at the name, wishing suddenly that the chocolate-skinned woman was somewhere nearby so that he could smack her around. Grimmjow normally didn't lay a hand on women, but there were always two 'exception-spots': The first being anyone who did harm to his car and the second being his step-sister. The only reason why his sister had a permanent spot, though, was because she could _definitely _handle herself perfectly fine. In her spot beside him, Nel smiled, almost as if she knew exactly what he was thinking about at the moment.

"So how'd you piss her off? Embarrass her?" she probed, practically bouncing on her heels in excitement. She was looking forward to his answer because she had _told _him that Mila-Rose would not turn out as a very good match. Needless to say, her brother had refused to listen. Grimmjow continued to stare at his beaten up car, silently totaling up how much all the damage would cost him.

Punctured tires, disfigured rims, busted windows, cracked windshield, slashed leather seats, damaged frame and a new paint job that undoubtedly said, "go fuck yourself!" in a very crude puke green. It would no doubt cost a small fortune.

Perhaps a new car would be cheaper?

Grimmjow was jarred from his thoughts when there was a rough shaking on his arm. He growled low in his throat and snatched his arm away from the green haired girl, unable to put up with his sister's antics at the moment. He turned his attention back to his car and then finally lost it. "Goddamn it!" he yelled, smashing his fist against the passenger side door, ignoring the pain that blossomed at his knuckles. Nel whistled once again and then let her face fall into the 'worried sister' expression that was naturally programmed into her, a bit anxious when she saw a bit of blood drip down from his knuckles.

"I told you she had a very bad temper. I told you she would end up doing something like this. Why is it that you never listen to me?" She had her hands on her hips by now, quirking an eyebrow teasingly at her older sibling, all the while resisting the urge to take his hand into hers so that she could attempt to doctor it. He, no doubt, would not take well to that. Finally, Grimmjow gave up, allowing his hand to fall limp at his side before blowing out a defeated sigh and spent the next few moments staring at the abused car in silence. Suddenly, without warning, anger seized him, burning at the very cells of his blood--even though he had just calmed down--a staggering anger, foreign and abrupt and yet so much like his own...

"Yeah, she had a bad temper," he growled out.

She blinked. That was as close as she was going to get to an apology--it was rare for him to agree so easily.

He continued, ignoring what he knew was to be a questioning look growing on the girl's face. "She wanted to know why we weren't 'connecting on a more _personal _basis' and why the hell I hadn't 'popped the question' yet." Nel let out a confused noise, wondering if it was normal to want to marry after only two months of dating. She wasn't even sure if it could be considered dating. They never went on a proper date. Surely the girl was crazy. She frowned, however, when her thoughts proceeded further. She let out a dismayed sigh and said, "You insulted her, didn't you?"

She almost laughed when Grimmjow's face melted into a scowl and then quickly morphed into a look of dark humor. "Apparently she was under the impression that I was there for more than just the fuck."

A disapproving frown swept across her lips before she imagined what the scene must have looked like, causing a smile to erupt on Nel's face. "At least you aren't together anymore." She turned around and pulled out a phone, pausing to look over her shoulder at him. "We'll have to call Mom and Dad to ask them for a bit of money, then. You don't want to take money out of that account..." She quickly dialed a number and started speaking quickly, smiling and laughing to what the person on the other line was saying, ignoring what was sure to be a dark look on her brother's face. After a few minutes of this, she turned back around.

"Alright," she said, turning a bright smile on the taller man. Grimmjow blinked in response. So soon? He thought it would take a _lot _longer than that to convince their parents. Especially _him. _He voiced this aloud.

At this, she quirked an eyebrow and gave an amused smirk. "No... I just got us a ride back home. _You're _the one who is going to be doing most of the talking in _that _conversation, Mr. Go-getter." She wriggled her eyebrows a few times before laughing. "Come on. Let's go home and get your hand fixed." When Grimmjow let out a growl, she frowned, heaving a sigh before conceding. "Fine. But we're at least going to wash it off." And with that, she started off down the street, her brother muttering obscenities as he followed along behind her.

**

* * *

**

He stood next to the entrance of the airport, waiting. A rental car pulled up, a dull red with flaking paint. Ichigo turned and looked past it, figuring that it wasn't the one he was looking for. He was proved wrong, however, when he heard his name being shouted ("Ichigooooo!!") and quickly stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding the full grown man that had provided half of his chromosomes.

His father.

Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention to his sisters, smiling when he caught the twins with two very different expressions. Karin had a wide smirk and a quirked eyebrow painting her face, a huge contrast to the soft smile on Yuzu's face. The both of them were pulled into an almost-painful hug and when he pulled away he gave them a rare smile. "I'll miss you guys," he murmured, unwilling for the rare caring words to be heard by outsiders.

"Unfair, Ichigo! What about me?" His father stood behind him, a pout on his tanned face. Ichigo rolled his eyes in response and said, "You'll live." He was going to head inside to see if he could find Chad, but stopped and hissed, grabbing at his knuckles. Out of a natural instinct, he pulled his hand up to where he could see it, frowning when he couldn't see any signs of injury. His father immediately quietened and grabbed his hand, pulling it closer to himself to examine. When he came to the same conclusion as his son, he shook his head sadly. "Again?" he asked quietly, rubbing over his hand. Isshin frowned when Ichigo winced as his fingers trailed over the knuckles, even though the light touch didn't cause any renewal of pain.

The younger man didn't even bother nodding, knowing it was more of a rhetorical question rather than one that needed an answer. He gently pulled his hand away and tucked it in his pocket, fervently ignoring the spiking pain. His father cleared his throat, bringing his attention back on him. "Try to keep it as quiet as possible... alright?" Ichigo scowled at this, irritated. He already _knew _that! A hell of a lot more than his father! He had suffered through this for _years, _and his _father _was lecturing _him? _Anger coursed through him, so intense that he had to clench his fist.

Isshin's face melted into a guilty expression, accurately guessing why Ichigo was suddenly so angry. He started to apologize but was cut off when his son suddenly sighed, forcing the brash anger away, and pulled him into a fierce hug. "I know you're just worried. I'll be fine," he muttered. He pulled away just as quickly as the hug had been initiated and trailed his eyes back to his siblings. He kissed them both on the crown of the head and smiled at their individual farewells. Chad suddenly appeared beside them and said, "They're starting to board our flight. Our luggage is already on it's way to the apartments via another flight." Ichigo nodded and started in the direction of the entrance. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at his three family members, and shouted, "Take care of each other! I'll see you later!"

Once Ichigo was relaxing in his seat, and buckled up, ready to exit the country, he looked again at his hand and frowned.

Ichigo wasn't considered strange for some random reason, like his hair or tendency to get into fights. No, he had a much more personal, deeper reason that couldn't be explained even in today's technologically advanced society.

His father, a well-known doctor had looked at him, vehemently trying to figure out what exactly was wrong with him, only to be stumped time and again. Other doctors over and over had told him that he was going mental, that he was going crazy and there was nothing he could do about it. Both he and his father had refused the idea of going crazy, his father insisting that he was just... _different. _There were times when he would feel phantom pains, injuries that didn't exist on his body--like what had happened just a half-hour ago. There were also times when he would be assaulted by foreign emotion, sometimes randomly bursting out in laughter during tense or even solemn situations. People tended to avoid him, figuring that he was, in a sense, "off his rocker". Because of this odd quirk, he didn't have many friends and had never had a true lover. Ichigo clenched his hand into a fist, refusing to acknowledge the spasming pain of his unblemished knuckles.

Perhaps he was destined to be alone.

**-Chapter End-**

Alright, guys. I am really sorry... but I think this is my new baby-fic. I am way too excited to get this one going and I know it's going to be amazing. For those who were hoping for the other one in the poll... (It's called From the Ground, Up)... I apologize. This one will likely take precedence for now. And I'd like to take this time to warn you guys: this doesn't have much of a plot... it's not _nearly _as intricate as Endure and Survive was. This fic is mainly based on the developing relationship between Ichigo and Grimmjow. There will be the occasional plot weave and yadda-yadda--but that's about it. Don't expect as much epic-ness in this fic. (Sorry... I just really wanted a more laid-back plotline.) But don't worry. I'll try to keep it interesting.

So. Does anybody have any theories behind this story? What it's going to turn out like, what's up with Ichigo...? (Though, I'm sure some of it is _rather_ obvious... I was hoping for it to be. If it isn't, then it will definitely become obvious within the next chapter or so.) I love to hear the speculations of my readers. XD

Oh yeah. And that whole phone episode... with the family teasing Ichigo about having a girlfriend--that happens to me _way _too much. Most of my friends are guys, so when they call... -rolls eyes-

Whee!

_Review,_

**Review, **

_**Review!!**_


	2. So Stubborn

Yay! Next chapter! (I've been chilling and relaxing after completing a major project of mine--a job well done, I must say!) I hope you guys have been looking forward to this--because I know I have been! On with the chapter!

Started November 18th.

Completed November November 30th.

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Bummer.

**Warning:**

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 2**

**So Stubborn**

**

* * *

  
**

The past few days had been utter madness. The hours had been filled up with carrying boxes in and out and unloading them, trying to decide where to put each and every item. The kitchen was the only room fully stocked. He never wanted to see another box again. Ichigo had thoroughly convinced himself that once he was finished moving in the new apartment, he would never move again. This, of course, was a very feeble convincing, as it was highly doubtful that he would wish to spend his life in a small, two bedroom apartment.

When looking over the apartment, actually, it wasn't that bad. It was really a nicely sized apartment--definitely larger than the ones back home in Karakura. Nothing could beat a nice, large house, though.

Ichigo sighed to himself, flopping back on the couch and staring at the ceiling. He felt as if he had gone through hundreds of boxes. He looked down at the floor, only to see that every square yard had a box or two within its boundaries. This almost made him groan. He probably wasn't even halfway through, yet!

His dismayed thoughts were jarred when his cell phone started blaring from somewhere across the room, hidden behind who-knows-which-box. Ichigo stood up from the couch and precariously made his way in the direction of the familiar ringtone, carefully stepping around haphazardly-spread boxes. He located the general area of where the phone was, but... He frowned. The ring had stopped. Rolling his eyes, he turned to make his way back to the couch but froze with his leg in midair, just as the phone blared to life once more.

A growl escaped his lips and as he turned around, an irritated scowl was directed in the general vicinity of the obnoxious phone. Stepping once more in the direction of the sound, he began to mutter to himself. "Stupid phone thinks it can fuck around with me... I swear, if I miss this call I'm just going to ignore all calls for the rest of the day..."

He finally stepped where he wanted to be, waiting for the chorus to repeat itself so that he could locate the exact position of the phone. When the chorus began once more, he pinpointed where it was, seeing the crimson red of the back of his phone. Ichigo bent at an awkward angle, trying to avoid the mid-waist-high box that was standing in front of it. When he snatched it up, he flipped the phone open and made to lean back. "Hel--Ack!" He yelped when he hit the floor, blinking in an almost shocked fashion before pulling the phone back up to his ear.

"...Hello?" He called into the receiver, hoping fervently that the caller wasn't Karin or Tatsuki. Without any shred of doubt, he knew that he would never hear the end of _that _one. He sighed in relief, however, when a totally different voice replied, "Ichigo..? Are you alright?"

"Chad. Yeah. Just... boxes," he replied, sitting up slowly. Chad seemed to understand from the short reply, immediately humming in acknowledgement. Getting straight to the point (and hoping for the use of a diversion tactic), the red-head asked, "So why'd you call?"

The man on the other side just hummed once more, maintaining silence before he replied, "Tatsuki called. She's going to come pick us up. Now." Ichigo blinked, then blew out yet another sigh. There was no point in arguing with the tomboy about it (or about _anything, _really). No matter how much he insisted or complained, he would, one way or another, end up doing exactly as she wished. Standing up, he said, "Alright. See you in a few, I guess." Without any further words between the two, the lines went dead simultaneously.

**

* * *

**

The roads of Society City were really quite different from those of Karakura. All of them seemed a lot wider, as compared to the small neighborhood roads back home, where roads were usually just _barely _the width of two cars. Most people just traveled by foot back home. (Luckily, he wasn't most people and actually had a car for himself. A present for graduation.) He tilted his head a bit, frowning when he realized that he wasn't paying attention to which roads they were taking. It would have been better for him to memorize them so he knew how to get to the University...

They had stopped by a nearby duplex and picked up two guys--Mizuiro and Asano. He was really surprised when he heard their names actually--traditional names like those from back home. After asking about it, he was informed that they had actually come from Karakura, too. Turned out they went to the same high school, but didn't have any of the same classes as Ichigo (maybe because his were more advanced?).

When they finally pulled up to the University Chad was to be attending, he couldn't help but stare out the window in awe. You couldn't see much from their particular position, but it didn't take much to tell that the campus was _huge. _The buildings were rather plain, though...

He shook his head out of his thoughts, realizing that the others had already gotten out of the car and made their way out of the parking lot. He jogged to catch up with them, slowing down and following their speed when he made it to Chad's side. Not knowing where to go, they just followed Tatsuki, cutting across campus and around one of the buildings. She paused, causing Ichigo and Chad behind her to stop and glance at each other in confusion. Mizuiro merely smiled, his eyes taking in the cliques across the lawn while Keigo nearly bounced on his feet in anticipation. There was a moment when the tomboy stared at the clustered groups scattered around the small court-yard before her eyes lit up and she smiled. Waving a frantic arm, she called across the area, ignoring the nearby student's curious gazes.

"Orihime! Rukia!" She called, making beckoning motions to the two girls who had perked up and glanced over. With twin smiles, the two had gotten up from their table and gathered their books up, stuffing them into bookbags and striding over. They stopped before Tatsuki, the shorter one glancing curiously back at the two new members and completely ignoring the calls that Keigo was making ("Rukia~ Orihime-chan~"). Tatsuki smiled, tweaking a strand purple-black hair. She stepped back and waved a sweeping hand over Chad and Ichigo and smirked. "These two, my dear girls, are the infamous Chad and Ichigo," she declared almost pompously, directing a hand in their directions respectively when she announced their names.

The two girls blinked, the taller one about to introduce herself when Tatsuki interrupted her. "Guys, this is Kuchiki Rukia," she said, pausing after announcing her name, allowing them to stop and get a good look at the smaller woman whom was being pointed to. She was a rather short woman, with stylishly short black hair. Ichigo found her a bit strange, though--the second he made eye-contact with her, she seemed to pucker her face and straighten up, clacking her heels together. He was brought out of his thoughts when Tatsuki continued, "and this is Inoue Orihime." She waved her hand at the taller girl, the woosh of air causing her bright orange hair to fan out as if she had intentionally tossed it. The only other thing that he really noticed about the girl was her eyecatchingly-large cleavage. It was a little hard to miss...

_Oh, no... _He mentally groaned to himself, quickly connecting the dots. This _must _be the girl that Tatsuki was trying to hook him up with! It was the typical type that she always seemed to pick out--the kind that looks all bubbly and cute but had a total airhead personality. The fact that her eyes just lit up and glued onto his body made it all the more obvious that he had been a rather... _recurrent _topic amongst their clique.

He was about to pull Tatsuki to the side to reprimand her for her devious ways but stopped the thought when another young man stepped up behind the girls and stared at the two newcomers for a moment, sweeping his black hair out from in front of his glasses. Removing his gaze from Ichigo and Chad, the guy turned his attention to Orihime and jolted his head in their direction. "Who are they?" he asked, obviously pretending to be interested in them. The bouncy girl, oblivious to the dry properties of the question, quickly introduced them to each-other, Ichigo learning that the man's name was Uryuu Ishida.

After a few minutes of chatting on the girl's behalves (and Rukia shooing Keigo away from Orihime with her delightfully distracting drawing tactics), Tatsuki stepped away from the two girls and motioned to Chad, who glanced at her with his normal blank expression. "Alright, Chad. I'm going to take Ichigo to his University and show him around a bit. Keigo, Mizuiro and Rukia have volunteered to show you around here." She tilted her head knowingly when he cast a quick glance in Ichigo's direction. Ichigo, noticing the look, gave him a quick smile and nodded, tilting his head toward Keigo. Chad nodded back, giving a small smile to Tatsuki before murmuring, "Alright. Thank you. See you later, Ichigo." He waved at the orange-headed man, taking off after his three guides.

When they finally disappeared around the corner of a building, Tatsuki puffed up and raised a fist enthusiastically and shouted, "Alright! Let's go!" She had begun to march when Ishida reached into his bag and merely said, "Pass," before cracking open a book and walking the other direction. Their enthusiastic guide payed no heed to this (and probably didn't even notice) and headed back in the direction of the parking lot with Ichigo and Orihime trailing along behind her. She came to an abrupt halt and spun around, glaring across the campus as if she had seen something whilst passing by and threw her hand up once more, waving it back and forth and shouting, "Oi!!! Nel!!"

There was an unintelligible shout back before a girl darted across the grass at an amazing speed, easily convincing Ichigo that she had been on a track team in at least one point of her life. She jumped when she neared them, coming to a stop with her long green hair falling around her face from gravity.

"Hey Tatsuki, 'Hime." She then blinked and pointed obnoxiously at Ichigo. "Who's this?" She asked, stepping forward into his personal bubble and staring straight into his eyes. Tatsuki ignored the strange closeness as if it were an everyday thing and merely replied, "Kurosaki Ichigo. Friend from Karakura. Ichigo, Nel." The girl before him then smiled and leaned back a bit, thrusting a hand forward. He took it, cringing when she began to shake his hand vigorously. Yanking his hand back from her hold after the shake and unconsciously rubbing at his knuckles, he muttered, "Pleasure."

With green hair falling in front of her eyes, she brushed it back with a feminine hand and stared at him, forcing him to look away in discomfort with a heavy frown. After what seemed to be a minute or two, she barked out a laugh and said, "Wow! He's so much like Grimm with that scowl of his! They'd make good friends." She looked over at Tatsuki who nodded knowingly in response, her brow creased in a mock-wise expression. "Yes... Actually," she piped up, "we're heading over that way now. Ichigo got into Seireitei. Want a lift?"

Hair falling into her face once more, she brushed it back--seemingly as a habit--and smiled. "Yeah," she replied, "that would be great, actually. I had been planning to visit my brother to check up on him..." She hooked onto Ichigo (much to the dismay of Inoue), and began to tow him back to the purple-haired girl's car, ignoring her kidnapee's protests and quite obvious discomfort.

On the way over to the campus that he had been accepted into, Nel turned in her seat next to him and stared at Ichigo once more. Irritated with the repeated action and unneccessary attention he was receiving, he snapped, "What?!" She giggled and shook her head before asking, "Do you know the nickname for this city?" She glanced at the rearview mirror where she saw Tatsuki shake her head from the front seat. Ichigo blinked in confusion and shook his head, finding himself grudgingly curious.

"It's 'Soul Society'. Soul Society City," she murmured, purposely giving her words a mysterious feel. When the red head frowned in confusion she chuckled and said, "It's basically named that way because there is such a wide variety of different souls that gather here. You can find the kindest person living right next door to the most well-known delinquent. Sort of like a melting-pot of society."

He stared at the young woman for a moment before humming lowly, turning back to watch the scenery outside the window as he thought to himself, not even realizing that the girl with seaweed-color hair was watching him with a knowing smile.

They pulled into yet another parking lot at long last and got out, Ichigo following behind Tatsuki once more as she followed Inoue and Nel. They weaved their way through a small crowd and went around a few buildings before Nel marched right up to two males sitting on a table with _very _shocking hair colors.

_And I thought _my _hair was strange, _Ichigo thought to himself, staring at the three contrasting colors of pink, blue, and green.

Nel was immediately sucked into a conversation between the two, completely forgetting about Inoue, Ichigo, and Tatsuki behind her. After a few minutes of this, Ichigo started to get irritated and began shifting from one leg to another, ready to just grab his friend by the arm and demand she show him around campus without the others. When stopping to think about it, though, he realized that it wouldn't do much good considering the fact that Tatsuki didn't even attend this university. While the urge was still present, he squashed it ruthlessly, berating himself by reasoning that the shunning tendencies didn't help his social life. He chose to stare off at the other side of the campus, instead deciding to entertain his brain's desire to make up life stories for each person that passed by.

Finally, Nel seemed to remember their existence and turned around, tugging on a lock of hair with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, guys..." she laughed lightly, her eyes merrily squinted into half-moons. "We were talking about the damages on Grimm's car..." Inoue and Tatsuki nodded knowingly, stepping forward with twin expressions of sympathy before bidding the two men 'hello'. Ichigo took no notice and continued with his people-watching. The blue haired man had finally peered around his sister, catching sight of, not only two familiar females, but a very unfamiliar male.

He paused, eyes roving over this new addition, enjoying the few moments of a free examination. He nodded to himself, finding the new man good-looking from his view--even if it was only the back-side. Nel noticed his scrutiny of Ichigo and laughed to herself, catching her brother's attention. When he sent her a questioning look, she shook her head with a smile and cleared her throat, trying to get the orange haired man to notice. When he continued to look over the campus, she frowned, her brows knitting up in confusion.

Tatsuki laughed and said, "You'll have to try harder than that. He disappears into his own world pretty often." She reached over and smacked Ichigo on the shoulder, snapping him out of his daze. He turned back to her and tilted his head, a questioning look painted on his face, as if he were used to being smacked around (though, knowing Tatsuki, he probably was). When he had turned around, Nel's brother had let out a whistle without even realizing it. The kid was _really _good looking.

The newcomer rested his attention on him when Tatsuki pointed his direction and introduced them. "Szayel Aporro," she jabbed a thumb in the pink haired man's direction before flicking it to the blue haired man, "and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez." Ichigo locked his eyes onto Grimmjow's and stopped for a second before slowly nodding and saying, "Hello." Grimmjow couldn't seem to find his voice and merely nodded in the same fashion, shifting his weight onto one hand so that he could offer his hand, but when he bumped his knuckles into Szayels arm, he let out a curse.

Simultaneously, Ichigo hissed and protectively wrapped a hand around his own knuckles, glancing at the skin in confusion.

Grimmjow looked up and stared at Ichigo for a minute before jerking his head to motion to Ichigo's hand. "Hurt your hand, too?" he asked, his deep voice rumbling over Ichigo in a way he didn't imagine possible. The poor red head had to blink a few times to gather his randomly scattered thoughts before shaking his head and releasing his hand quickly to let it drop to his side. "No," he replied quickly. The small group stared at him in question for a moment, making him glance off to the side in a faux-casual manner, hopeful of ridding himself of the attention.

When Grimmjow let out a pained hiss, though, Ichigo turned his attention back to him. He stepped closer and snatched the man's hand out of his lap, ignoring his protests and attempts to pull away. He brought it closer to his face to examine, slamming his foot down on the man's toes when he resisted. He overlooked the twitch and growl of the man and the giggles of the girls and instead let out a quiet, "Oh..." before quickly unwrapping the bandaging, cautiously glancing up at the blue haired man to check that he wasn't hurting him. By the flexing jaw, it was most definitely hurting, but... this guy was probably the type to think that being in pain was uncool.

He mentally rolled his eyes and looked back down at the man's knuckles, frowning at what he saw. "Infected for about a week... injured for about a month..." he muttered to himself, ignoring the way a few of his observers blinked in surprise. His frown bled into a scowl when he really stopped to look at the condition of the man's hand. Red, torn, irritated tissue, filled with pus and swollen. Most definitely infected. "Who doctored this?" When Inoue cautiously raised a hand, a blush staining her cheeks, he muttered quietly to himself.

"Apparently she's not in the medical profession..." Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing. Orihime wasn't really good at anything medical... or domestic... but complexity was multiplied many times over if someone tried to doctor Grimmjow. They had to have at least five friends sit on the man just to get him to stay still...

Ichigo sat back on his heels and looked him straight in the eye and repeated his verdict, "It's infected. Really bad. You need to go to the hospital." Before the man could erupt at the statement, Nel raised her hands in pacification and waved them. "Isn't there some other way?" She asked, eyes darting to her older brother. "He doesn't like doctors and we're kinda low on funds this week."

Scowling at the double admission of worries in his life, Grimmjow began attempting to wrap his hand up once more. Tatsuki reached out and tugged the bandage away from him, ignoring the glare directed at her and turned to Ichigo, a bright smile lit on her face as she quietly murmured to him. "Can't you patch him up, Ichigo? You've seen all kinds of wounds, right?" Ichigo searched her expression for a moment, looking for any form of trickery before frowning. "But..."

Nel stepped over and pulled him aside, whispering to him in hushed tones so as not to let her brother overhear. "Really, Ichigo. Please. He's likely to haul off and punch a doctor with all of the problems we've had lately... If you know how to fix it... Could you please patch him up? I'll pay you back."

He finally allowed his head to bob up and down in a slow nod. "Yeah..." he said, thinking it couldn't be too hard. The man seemed to have a problem with doctors, but... he technically wasn't a doctor at this point. "I guess I could..."

After a few minutes of Nel excitedly saying that they were going to go for a random drive, they were coerced into Szayel's car, Tatsuki taking her car to head on home and drop Inoue off. While in the car heading down the road, Nel shifted in her seat in the front and peered happily at Ichigo, and said (rather dramatically), "So... Ichigo," here she smiled brightly, "Can we hang out at your house? Please? I wanna see where you live." Her smile was blindingly brilliant, no visible cracks showing her hidden intent to her in-the-dark brother.

"Sure... but I'm not fully moved in," he replied almost boredly. Even though he seemed like he was laid back on the outside, the truth was that he was very much on-edge. He didn't like the fact that he was in a car with people he neither knew nor trusted. She nodded over-enthusiastically, not really caring if he had to battle a dragon to make it through the door. She just wanted her brother to keep from getting his arm amputated or something. It could happen, right?

Ichigo rattled off his address and was surprised when the pink haired man made no attempt to make any turns and continued in the same direction. When asked about it, Szayel had looked up in the rear view mirror and caught his eye, replying, "Because Grimmjow lives really close to your place. Probably about half a block away." Ichigo blinked in surprise and glanced at the man in question, only barely restraining himself from jumping when he found Grimmjow staring at him. He quickly turned his attention back to the road.

When they finally arrived at his place and kicked their way through the boxes, Ichigo showed them to the kitchen and quickly started brewing some tea, habits from back home seeping into his routine. The three mingled idly, compliments spewing from Nel every few seconds while the other two men barely attempted to participate in the conversation, choosing instead to observe their current surroundings. With a quick muttered excuse after serving tea, the red-head exited the kitchen area.

Ichigo began his long and arduous search through the boxes, yelling in delight each time he found something he needed. After a few moments of this, he finally remembered that he had guests and his cheeks burned at the knowledge that he was fully visible from their spot in the kitchen, where they were no doubt watching him in amusement. When everything was collected, he cleared a space on the couch, calling Grimmjow over and forcing him to sit upon it. He plopped down beside the man and tossed his materials beside himself, yanking on the man's hand to bring it closer. Finally realizing what the man's intent was, Grimmjow quickly pulled away with a growl and barely restrained himself from yelling as he said, "Keep your fucking hands offa me," in the most venemous tone he had.

Choosing merely to roll his eyes, Ichigo tugged on the man's hand again, wincing when the blue haired man aimed a well-placed smack at his arm. He gave the man a solid glare before he raised a challenging eyebrow. Resolute and unwavering in his determination, he pulled back an arm and punched the man in the upper arm, wincing when he felt pain course up his own arm. Ignoring the phantom pain and Grimmjow's surprised expression he stated levely, "Stop being so _stubborn."_ Nel watched the pair in astonishment as Szayel soaked up every moment to be filed and stored away in the back of his mind.

The man made to get up and leave but paused when Ichigo scoffed and muttered under his breath, "Coward."

Stopping in his tracks, Grimmjow swerved around, pinning the man with his most powerful scowl before he realized he seemed to be unaffected. After a few moments of deliberation, he sat back down on the couch in a fashion that seemed to say he owned the place and reeked of confidence. Rolling his eyes at the typical macho behavior, Ichigo snatched the man's hand up once more, finally able to get to work.

Pouring and dabbing a bit of peroxide, he murmured belatedly, "This may sting a bit." Grimmjow looked up at him with a glare and said, "No shit." Ichigo flinched slightly, his own knuckles beginning to burn--no doubt in sympathy pain. He had been subjected to such procedures having gone through his fair share of fights and needing to get rid of infections caused by hiding injuries from his father.

After all the pus was boiled out, he poured some water over the hand, gently and efficiently rubbing it clean with a rag. He quickly applied some antibacterial ointment and wrapped it up. The red head stood up and stretched slightly, rubbing unconsciously at his own knuckles. Szayel watched with calculating eyes from his chair before standing up and making a show of yawning.

"It was nice meeting you, Ichigo." He stretched before sending a sharp look to the siblings. "But we have to leave now. We should hang out sometime," he called, already making his way out the door. Grimmjow rolled his eyes at his friend's behavior, sending a heated look Ichigo's way before following him out the door. His sister lingered, glancing at the portal with a frown before pinning him with a quiet smile and then suddenly winking and darting out the door after them, shouting, "What do you mean 'we have to leave'?! I wanna stay!!" Ichigo watched as the door swung shut after the small group.

_Soul Society, _he thought, clicking his tongue to himself before glancing at the many boxes littering up his living room. He let out a sigh, definitely not eager to get busy on unpacking once more. He allowed himself to pause, however, and went over his day--thinking about all the people he met and coming to rest on the memory of electric blue eyes.

_A variety of souls, indeed._

**Chapter End**

I really want to cry. I had planned on finishing this chapter _weeks _ago, but I was assigned three more projects! Augh! I hate being in advanced classes! I kinda wanna quit, but... I'm too stubborn for my own good. (Haha. I just realized during editing that this fits perfectly with this chapter's theme/title.)

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter... It was mainly an introduction sort of chapter to give the vibes of what's going on and who is going to be showing up in this one. (Alas, we shall have some more Shinigami and Arrancar characters popping in, just not yet.) Hoping to pump out the next chapter as fast as possible. This is sort of a 'wing-it' kinda fic. I know what the general plot is, but... there isn't much detail behind the planning--so how they're gonna end up getting closer through the story is just gonna depend on how I feel whenever I'm writing. -laughs-

Let's just hope that turns out okay, huh?

Uh... Sorry for the slightly late update. I was working on a new project with my partner all day. When I got around to putting it up (late at night), for some reason, fanfiction wasn't allowing me to upload it to the site due to an internal error of some sort. Sorry.

And yes. I did another reference to their strange hair-colors. I love calling attention to it--if only for a brief moment.

You know what to do.

_Review, _

**Review,**

_**Review!!**_


	3. So Suspicious

Oh, man. Teachers really know how to wear students down when the holidays start rolling around. Not to mention my curse kicks in... (My family has a curse--I have never once had a normal holiday season--either someone dies, gets in a car-crash, gets really sick, put in jail, etc.) This year, it was the dog having to go to the emergency vet... we lost about $400 right there. And there was a car crash. And just general financial troubles.

Not the best night of my life, but let's just hope this season doesn't get any worse. (Last year, there was a death, fire, and broken arm... all within the span of 2 weeks. Ending on Christmas day. Needless to say, I don't exactly enjoy the holiday season too much.)

So... enough with my complaints about bad luck... or karma. (Who knows--maybe my family was a band of serial killers in a past life.) And on to the story!

Started December 13th.

Completed December 21st.

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Shame.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 3**

**So Suspicious**

**

* * *

  
**

_On second thought, _Ichigo contemplated, _this apartment is actually pretty big. _

Today, nearly 5 days after having arrived and settling down, the dreaded days of unpacking were finally completed, never to be seen or heard from again. As he glanced about his house, sans the multitude of boxes, he came to realize that his initial assumption of having an average to small apartment was mistaken. The rooms were quite spacious, even with all of the furniture set up and laid out.

His brow furrowed, however, when he glanced into the living room from the indoor kitchen window. There, sitting on his brand-new, beige, four-thousand dollar corner couch, were 5 people. Grimmjow lounged in the corner seat, feet kicked up on the coffee table. Beside him, Nel bounced excitedly in her seat, animatedly re-enacting a story for Inoue's sole pleasure. On the other side of the blue haired man, Keigo and Mizuiro spoke to each other in hushed tones, glancing back at Grimmjow every once in a while with fearful expressions (on Keigo's part, of course).

On the loveseat across the room, Szayel sat calmly, eyes roving over the group on the corner couch in that quiet way of his. Beside him sat Ulquiorra, doing nothing in particular save for staring blankly at the wall.

To be perfectly honest, when Ichigo and Ulquiorra had been introduced the day prior, he was fucking _weirded out. _The man had a very strange appearance, enough to make anyone uncomfortable--sickly pale skin, night-black hair and eye-popping jade-green eyes. The man's personality was just the icing on the cake--he had only heard the man say two words ('dumb-ass'--directed at Keigo, of course), and he had the strangest tendency to just _stare. _

Ichigo still felt rather uncomfortable around him, but, by now, he had realized that this was the norm for him. So he just relaxed and decided to ignore the weird behavior and continue on with his life.

Tatsuki and Rukia were also present, at least, physically. As soon as they had arrived at his apartment they had claimed they needed a good dose of sleep and taken off down the hall, Tatsuki disappearing into Ichigo's room, and Rukia into the spare. Chad, of course, was in the kitchen helping him out with the food.

When he had called Chad to come over for dinner, he had expected only him to come. How it had multiplied from one to ten, he honestly had no idea. (Though, if he were to honestly try to think about it, he would immediately know how it happened--it slipped to Tatsuki.)

Startled out of his thoughts from a tap on the shoulder, he swerved around to Chad, blinking when the man held up the glass pan and jerked a head in the direction of the table. "It's ready," was all the man said before stepping over to the table and waiting. Ichigo picked up a few pot holders and set them down side-by-side on the table, allowing his long-time-friend to put the pan on top. Releasing a weary sigh, Ichigo grabbed the pot of rice and sauce, setting them down on individual pot holders on the table before running a hand through his hair.

"Sorry about this," Chad murmured lowly, fixing him with eyes of concern. The orange haired man furrowed his brows and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. Grabbing some plates and setting them out on the table, he muttered distractedly, "About what?" Chad grabbed some silverware, setting them out next to the plates that Ichigo had procured. He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the livingroom, replying, "Tatsuki spreading the message of 'dinner' around."

He shook his head. "No, it's fine. Really." Chad watched him for a moment, having just finished laying out the silverware. "You just seem frustrated," he stated quietly after a minute. Ichigo gave him a curious look. "Frustrated?" he asked. Chad gave a pointed look to Ichigo's hand. Realizing what he was doing, the red head dropped his hand from his head, wondering how long he had been rubbing at his temples.

"Oh--no. Just a headache," he responded, giving a small, pained smile. The headache was starting to worsen... maybe it was a migraine? Chad watched him for a few seconds more before moving into the living room. He tapped on Szayel's shoulder and gained his attention, likely telling him that dinner was ready. The pink haired man nodded and called out to the rest of the group. "Dinner's ready," was his simple statement before he moved into the kitchen and began fixing himself a plate.

Nel and Inoue immediately shut up and made their way to the table, followed by Keigo and Mizuiro. Chad glanced over to Ichigo and asked, "Should I wake up Rukia and Tatsuki?" punctuated by a look toward the hallway. Ichigo shook his head. "No. I'll do it. Go ahead and get you some food." He waved off the concerned look that the dark-skinned man gave him and made his way down the hallway, going to his bedroom at the far end first. He quickly woke Tatsuki and told her that the food was ready. Tatsuki only gave a sleepy nod before saying she'd go wake up Rukia.

Standing in the doorway, he watched as she woke up the shorter woman. He waited until the two girls passed by him before he followed after them. He paused and lingered, however, when he made it to the living room only to notice that Grimmjow was still on the couch. The red head watched him for a moment, about to forget about him and just get himself a plate when he heard a very quiet, low groan. Blinking and turning back around, he stared at the man silently, noticing that the man had reached up and clutched at his head.

_A headache, _he realized. _Grimmjow has a headache, too._

Blowing out a small sigh, Ichigo made his way back to the table and picked up a plate, loading it up with a bit of food before heading back to the kitchen and popping open a cupboard. Setting down the plate, he rummaged through the cupboard and grabbed a bottle, shaking a few pills out. He quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and then took the water, pills and plate back to the living room, oblivious to the nine sets of eyes watching him from the table.

He set the plate down and slumped down onto the couch next to Grimmjow. He nudged the man's leg with his knee and frowned at the growled, "What?!" Rolling his eyes, he prodded the man once more. "Here, jackass." Grimmjow pulled his hand off of his face, locking his eyes onto the water being held out to him and pausing as his eyes dilated, trying to adjust to the light in the room. After darting a suspicious glance at the red head, he sat forward slightly and took the pills and water bottle, tossing the pills back and gulping water to chase after.

Wiping his mouth, he moved to sit back but was stopped by Ichigo who said, "You need to eat, dipshit. Isn't that what you came for in the first place?" He watched as the man jabbed a thumb at the plate, indicating the plate full of chicken and rice. Rolling his eyes, Grimmjow snatched the plate up and took a hefty spoonful of rice, popping it in his mouth before chewing and swallowing. Ignoring the curious look Ichigo gave him, Grimmjow paused and blinked, staring at the food before shrugging it off and going at the chicken.

Ichigo blinked when he felt a small bubble of contentment, frowning at how out-of-place the feeling seemed. Pushing the feeling aside, he went back to the kitchen and grabbed his own plate of food, going back to the couch and plopping back down to begin eating--all the while ignoring the looks from all of the people around the table.

After a few moments of silent eating, Rukia finally pushed back from her chair and carried her china and cutlery off to the kitchen before reappearing and stopping before Ichigo, hands on her hips. "You have a headache, too, right?" She thrust a hand out at him, uncurling her fingers to reveal two pills. Ichigo abruptly dropped his hand from where it had been unconsciously kneading at his head. He let out a sigh. So she had noticed? He gave her a winning smile and said, "No. It's fine." She merely shook her head in return, stubbornly raising an eyebrow. "Take some medicine." Again, he shook his head and raised his hands, waving them for support. "Really, there's no need."

She said nothing, but continued to hold out her hand. From where they were in the kitchen, Chad and Tatsuki both glanced at each other and stood up simultaneously to help him out. Ichigo furrowed his brows in frustration. He didn't really want to say this, but...

"Honestly, they don't even work," he finally said, glancing down so that he wouldn't have to see her or anybody else's reactions. As predicted, he got a few sets of raised eyebrows and questioning glances. Chad stepped up to Ichigo while Tatsuki put a hand on her shoulder. "They really don't, Rukia. They haven't worked on him since he was a kid. He just makes it a habit to keep some around for friends or something like that." She shot a sideways glance in his direction, meeting his thankful gaze with a quick nod.

Rukia glanced between the two for a moment, shifting her gaze to Chad before blowing out a sigh. It didn't sound probable, but... she decided to leave it be. Belting out a sigh, she turned around and headed off to the kitchen to return the pills to their proper place. Tatsuki released her own sigh, watching Ichigo as she rubbed a hand at the back of his head. Casting a casual glance at the group at the table behind her (and finding everyone in their seats, along with Rukia once more), she gave a quick glance in Grimmjow's direction, meeting his curious gaze for half a second before resting her eyes back on her close friend.

"Reminding me... how is that going? You know... _that," _she clarified her question, speaking in low tones so as not to be heard from the kitchen. Ichigo stiffened in response, looking up at her with wide, alarmed eyes before darting a glance in Grimmjow's direction. When he met the man's eyes, there was a brief staring contest before the blue haired man shrugged, returning to his meal. As he turned his attention back to Tatsuki, he never noticed that Grimmjow had refocused his ears on their conversation, interest peaking when Ichigo quietly said, "Yeah... it's been happening a little more often, but... other than that, it's fine."

She gave him a quick, sharp nod before stretching and easing out a yawn. Glancing back at the three men, she almost released a cheshire grin at finding electric blue eyes unconsciously glued to Ichigo. Clearing her throat (and snapping the three of them from their individual thoughts), she called over to Rukia, "Come on, Rukia! We'd better go... we have that huge test in Calculus tomorrow..." She gave a mock shake of the head accompanied by a shrug before making her way to the door, a curious Rukia following along behind her. Without further ado, she threw the door open with a dramatic cry and disappeared out the portal with a yell of, "Goodbye, Ichigo! Chad! 'Hime!", leaving the door to slam shut on its own.

The moments following the slam were spent in silence, the college students at the dining room table glancing at one another in a silent question of, 'should we leave, too?' After getting tired of the ridiculous silence, Nel let out a long moan, throwing her arms out sporadically and shouting, "Agh! These awkward silences are killing me!" Keigo bobbed his head, nodding in agreement while Mizuiro just rolled his eyes at their antics. The black haired young man stood up, taking Keigo by the arm. He waltzed over to the door and said, "Well, we have to go, too. We are in their class, so it seems we have a test tomorrow." As he stepped out the door with Keigo protesting, Orihime enthusiastically waved them goodbye before standing up and gathering the dirty dishes from the table, her green haired friend smiling and standing up to do the same.

While Orihime and Nel were off in the kitchen, Szayel and Ulquiorra left the table and made themselves comfortable on the loveseat across from where Ichigo, Chad, and Grimmjow were sitting. Propping his chin on an elegant hand, Szayel fixated his golden eyes on Ichigo, not even bothering to brush aside his pink hair when it fell in his face and obscured his vision through his glasses.

"So, Ichigo," he started off, with a simple, yet devious smile, eyes darting to Chad as the man decided to take a seat. Grimmjow, scooting off into the corner seat a little further, kept his rapt attention on his friend. That tone clearly meant the man was up to something.

Szayel paused for a moment, sending the sickly sweet smile in the direction of Grimmjow, ignoring the suspicious gaze it earned in favor of pulling Ichigo back into his sights. "How is it..." he eased it out casually, finger plucking at a loose thread in the loveseat. He stopped before starting and restating the beginning of his question once more. "How is it that you seem to know how to patch someone up so well?" He asked, finally having gotten the question out with a casual hand waved in Grimmjow's general direction. The blue haired man tensed in his seat, turning his suspicious gaze onto Ichigo now.

The die had been cast.

_And quite strategically, too, _Ulquiorra thought to himself, watching the situation's atmosphere to grow more intense by each passing second. He knew exactly what the pink haired man was going for, and quite honestly, it was a bit obvious if one knew how the man thought. Sitting back and shutting his eyes, he deigned it such a simple circumstance that he would only need to listen.

Ignoring how the silent, pale man beside him seemed to be bored with the situation, he continued to hold his gaze on the now speechless Ichigo. Apparently the man picked up subtle clues pretty quickly, because he had started darting glances to Grimmjow, doubtlessly wondering how to continue further.

He had one of two choices. He could either lie, and say that he just had experience of dressing wounds from fights--which, quite honestly, was more like a half-truth than anything else. Or he could tell the whole truth and say that he was born and raised in a clinic and was actually pursuing the career of becoming a doctor. Ichigo had always known what he'd wanted to become and had always stated it rather proudly. Who was he to back down now? Besides, if he only told half of the truth, there was little doubt that Grimmjow would find out later, and who knew what the man would do? That type of stuff would always come back to bite you in the ass--karma was just oh-so-kind like that.

Sucking in a particularly nervous breath, he subtly scooted away from his blue haired acquaintance and locked eyes with Szayel. He licked his lips and said, "Well... I grew up in a clinic... and got into a lot of fights. So I treated myself and helped with some of my Dad's patients. Not to mention..." Here he trailed off, darting a glance at Grimmjow before he steeled himself. Why was he starting to get nervous? He knew the man could punch, but so could he! He knew how to fight and he could hold his own. He'd kick the man's ass if he made any odd moves. Not removing his eyes from Grimmjow, he finished, "I'm actually studying to become a doctor."

The blue haired man clenched a fist, eyes blazing and calculating for a moment. All of the others in the room seemed to be pushed outside of their little world, trapped in a spell, as Grimmjow growled out, "So you're in college to take care of a couple of cuts..? What a pathetic profession!" He spat, jerking his head to the side in a motion that clearly showed he was disgusted.

Ichigo abruptly stood up, chocolate brown eyes raging with a heated fire. Grimmjow almost forgot his anger at the look, a bit intrigued with the expression the younger man was wearing. The moment was lost however, when another bubble of anger, seeming to be foreign and out of nowhere coursed through him, pricking at his limbs and seizing his nerves, traveling down to his finger-tips. A small portion of Grimmjow was confused. He never felt _this_ angry at the mention of doctors. He didn't like them, but it was more of a bitter dislike. Never was it this... _heated._ The angry part of him, however, argued otherwise. This part didn't much care and wanted nothing more than to hit something.

He was snapped from his internal raging when Ichigo sucked in a quick breath and quietly began speaking. It was a calm sort of quiet, but the kind that lingered just before a raging storm. Chad had stood from his seat to get his friend to calm down but was halted from a cleared throat across the room. Glancing over, he saw Szayel slowly shake his head, his lips falling into an amused smirk as he turned his gaze back on the quarreling duo.

"A doctor..." Ichigo said lowly, "is someone who saves lives. A doctor heals people from their physical injuries and insures that his or her patients are able to continue living healthily. A doctor is there to provide wisdom, health, advice, and sometimes, reassurance. I think a doctor is a pretty damned useful and repectful profession to be in." He paused, sucking in a shaky breath.

Seeing his chance to break into the feral atmosphere and get his friend to regain his bearings, Chad reached forward and brushed his hand against Ichigo's wrist.

And just like that, the spell was broken.

Ichigo seemed to deflate as he blew out some air. Letting out a quiet groan and brushing a hand through his hair, he turned his calm brown eyes onto Grimmjow with a small frown. Said man seemed to have lost all of his angry energy, having lost the will to fight and just stared at Ichigo quietly. Nobody noticed Orihime and Nel walk in, watching the scene with a vague curiosity as they toweled off their hands.

The orange haired man stated clearly, "I'm not really sure what you have against doctors or why..." He raised a hand and glanced down at it as he slowly clenched it into a fist. Looking back up at Grimmjow, he continued, "But no matter what shitty doctor you've met in the past, it was only one out of a million. There are hundreds of other kinds of doctors, each with their own personalities and methods. You shouldn't automatically judge everyone off of one past experience." He reached forward and grabbed the blue haired man's hand. Grimmjow was a bit too lost in his warring thoughts as Ichigo carefully unwrapped the bandages around his knuckles. "Not every doctor is the same. Not all doctors are shit-heads or assholes... Besides.." He trailed off, glancing down at the man's hand.

The knuckles were nearly healed, still bruised and a bit scabbed, but otherwise, the new, pink skin looked very healthy and promising. Brushing his fingers over the new skin, he slowly pulled away.

"True doctors want to heal people," Ichigo said, directing a small smile up at the taller man.

And that moment, that _very_ image was seared into Grimmjow's memory.

**-Chapter End-**

So yeah. It seems the curse still hasn't ended. Not only was there the whole vet deal (as stated in the previous author's note) but one of my friends were put in jail. Granted, it was totally his own fault and due to his stupidity, but it's still a bit depressing.

Alright. Enough of my pity-potting... Or whatever the hell it is that my mother says. Anyways. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. This one was a bit confusing for me to write because I wanted a specific type of feeling to be induced in the reader--an anxious, awkward, and confused sort of feeling. I'm not sure if I achieved it, but... you know, whatever. Hurrah for chicken and rice! (One of my specialties!)

Um... there was something else I wanted to say, but... I don't remember. (Grrrr. I hate my memory. I inherited it from my mother, I swear.)

This chapter was a little bit shorter than the first two. Sorry. BUT! There was a bit of obvious progress on their relationship. So be happy. Or else. XD

So, yeah. Guess what?

_Review,_

**Review,**

_**Review!!**_


	4. So Natural

Haha. I started this before finishing chapter 3. There was a scene that I absolutely wanted to write out before I totally forgot it. Hope you enjoy!

Started December 19th.

Completed January 15th.

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Angst.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 4**

**So Natural**

**

* * *

  
**

It was odd, really.

He had always had an intense dislike for doctors--whether they were professional or just an amateur trying to patch up a small scratch. Actually, he didn't _always _dislike doctors, he just came to hate them back when he was a kid.

_Because of _that _man, _he thought to himself.

Brushing aside the potentially angering thoughts, he went back to the matter at hand. Quite literally, actually.

Looking over his knuckles, once an infected, gruesome mess, one could see they were now almost perfectly healed, save for light bruising. He furrowed his eyebrows unconsciously. Grimmjow traced a finger over the bruises for a moment before guiding the hand up to his head, rubbing at his temples as he remembered the unforgiving pain of his migraine a few days back.

The man was a doctor and yet... he still felt this sort of... _ease _around him. It was strange. He couldn't help it, but it seemed as if he had a _soft spot _for him.

Grimmjow shook his head. That was a ridiculous notion. Why would he have a soft spot for someone that he'd barely known a few weeks? Hell, the two of them hadn't even had a decent conversation, yet! Their conversations consisted of the necessary--just enough talking to be able to get by and get through the day--nothing more, nothing less. (Unless you wanted to count the biting comments on a two-way road.)

He snorted to himself. Right. There was no possible way for him to have grown any sort of attachment to Ichigo. The man was just another pretty face with an annoyingly persistent attitude. That was all he was and ever would be.

This provoked an uncalled-for sigh from him as he began to worry his lip in a not-pout. (After all, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez does _not _sulk.)

_Then why do I still find him interesting? _Grimmjow blinked from his thoughts and barely held back a full body flinch at seeing bright green eyes only inches from his own. His curse, however, was unrestrained as he pulled his head back from the peering face of his step sister. Before he had a chance to ask, she automatically said, "I was just wondering what you were thinking about. You were off in your own world... and that sigh..." Here, she giggled, hiding her smile behind a delicate fist.

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he regarded the green haired young woman, his instincts telling him that he probably wouldn't like the reason _why _she was giggling. Once again, the woman took the initiative, chucking his bag at him to where he had to raise his arms to protect his face from being smacked. She jabbed a thumb in the direction of the doorway, an eyebrow raised and hand poised on her hip, looking every inch as confident as he would be on an average day. Ignoring the disconcerted feeling at the gleaming smirk being sent his way, he threw the strap of his bag over his shoulder and rolled his eyes, gathering his wits about him once more.

"It's not like you need to take Mom's place, you know." He rolled his eyes, discreetly letting his gaze rest on his sister to compare her to their female parent. It was striking how alike they held themselves... that pose was an exact _replica _of what their mother would do...

"Grimm...." The word was laced with a sort of sickly sweet sugar, beckoning to all that listened to it so that they could be lulled into a false sense of security. He abruptly turned around, now a little paranoid by exactly how well his sister could impersonate their mother.

"Yeah, I know," he said over his shoulder, "class starts soon, right?" Grimmjow walked out the door, leaving his sister behind in his apartment. Nel still stood in front of the couch where she had been left, eyes staring unseeingly at the open doorway. She stood there in silence for a few moments before her smirk slowly stretched across her face once more, renewed as she reflected on the scene that she had walked in on. Her brother seemed to be in his own little world, likely deep in thought about the one who had bandaged his hand, and that _sigh..._

She walked out the door and locked it behind her with the spare key he had given her a few months back and walked out to the parking lot, smirk still in place.

_He almost sounded... _lovestruck_._

Of course, she didn't even bother to consider that the sigh was due to a financial crisis or an annoyance in his life. Her mind was already spinning it to be so much more...! Because she was Grimmjow's sister, she was noticing not only the more obvious changes, but the subtle ones, too. Once upon her time, her brother would have spent his free time looking for a fling, someone to gain physical pleasure from. Nowadays, though, he seemed to be lost in thought more and paying more attention to conversations about a certain new addition to their group. And with that, her thoughts turned to the new addition in their group of friends, his arrival 'oddly' coinciding with her brother's strange and newly-developed attitude.

_This should prove to be interesting._

**

* * *

**

The day had proved to be quite boring. He had already gotten used to all of his classes, even though they were a little interspersed throughout the week. But Ichigo was fine with it. He had one or two evening classes whilst the rest were morning classes. He didn't really feel like getting up in the morning but everything was still fine and dandy.

Only not really.

He still had to find a job. He only had a limited amount of funds to support himself while he was living on his own, and they most definitely _weren't _going to cut it. Ichigo didn't want to continue to rely on his father to send money--he had to support himself! But the problem was that nobody seemed to want to hire him. He wasn't very good socially, so jobs revolving around people were likely to automatically reject his applications. Working in the fast food industry was a bit of a horrid thought due to all of the horror stories that were passed around. Honestly, he didn't _want _to know what the secret ingredient was in any of the special sauces. He collapsed in the chair of the restaurant, hanging lifelessly over the chair.

And if that weren't enough, he still had to wait for his car to be given the okay before it could be sent halfway across the world. Last time he checked, it wasn't supposed to arrive for another month or so. Therefore, he was limited to walking to class and back, going by bus, or hitching a ride with Tatsuki. Even then, she wasn't able to give him a ride all the time. But how was he supposed to manage? It's just ridiculous to waste your money to get on the bus each and every day, but was he honestly going to walk the 2-3 mile walk to and from class all the time? Chances are it would probably get old within the first 2 days. And truthfully, it was--he had already walked to class once and, not only was he late, but he was a little reluctant to walk again. It was already mid-Fall and it was starting to get downright _cold _outside.

Slipping back into a normal position in the chair, Ichigo absent-mindedly looked over the menu as he chewed on his lip thoughtfully. Perhaps a bike would help. It would be easier to manage the long distance and would get him to class in a fraction of the time. It wasn't the best thing to ride on while balancing a bag, but he could manage until his car arrived.

He nodded to himself, refocusing his attention back on the menu. When he chose what he wanted, he quickly signaled a waiter and rattled his order off to the young woman, ignoring the way she seemed to let her eyes linger on his body. It was due to times like these that he was thankful he had the presence of mind to chose a corner booth. As soon as she was gone, he sank back into thought, going back over what needed to be done. He would get a bicycle as soon as possible, so the transportation problem was basically cleared. Now he just had to worry about getting a job. When his meal arrived, he tucked into the food, not even paying attention to the flavor or what he was actually eating in favor of sifting through ideas in his head. As his fork fell with a clank onto the near-empty plate, however, he let out a long, anguished groan. His ideas were fruitless. Ichigo had absolutely no idea where he should apply to.

"Maybe I should just put random applications into random places..." He muttered to himself, his head starting to hurt.

"We have an opening here if you'd like to apply," was the response, and he jumped, clearly startled at the reply. He looked up from his lap to see a young man, finding himself a bit intrigued with the number tatooed onto the side of the man's face. Tearing his eyes away from the man's cheek, he met his gaze head on and blew out a breath of air. Finally, he nervously asked, "Can I have an application, then?" The man gave him a quick, sharp nod before spinning around and heading to the back room.

While he was gone, Ichigo let himself really look at the restaurant around him. It seemed to be a nice, hip little joint that people around his age would enjoy, but he noticed that there was a hallway that led to a slightly fancier section, likely for those that wished to hold celebrations or just wanted to stay in a quieter atmosphere.

The man quickly came back and handed him a small, stapled packet, so as the waiter cleared up his table, he lingered, choosing to stay behind and quickly fill in the application. After he finished up, he handed the application in to the man who had startled him earlier, learning that his name was Shuuhei.

After hurriedly shoving the packet into the purple-haired man's hands, he rushed out the door, eager to get into a more solitary environment. He wasn't used to being around people, and chances were that it would either take a very long time for him to get over it, or it would be constantly lingering over him, at the very back of his mind. _Though, _he mused to himself, _I'm going to be entering the service industry, so I'll have to get accustomed to being around people. _

Still sucked deeply into his thoughts, Ichigo never noticed that his feet had already carried him out of the establishment, his hands having robotically pushed the door open for himself and attaching themselves to his sides, allowing the door to swing shut with a bit of an unpleasant _clank._ Hurrying down the steps, he pulled his jacket tighter around him as the autumn air gave a light chill to his skin. Keeping his eyes on the steps to insure that he wouldn't end up tripping over his own feet, he had _just _about reached the last stepped when a different pair of shoes appeared in his vision, forcing him to (belatedly) realize that he was directly _en route _to a 2-person collision.

A startled "oof" left his lips as he stumbled back, barely keeping himself from falling on his rear on the stairs. He blinked his chocolate eyes for a moment, desperately hoping his eyes weren't tearing up because of the sharp breath of chilly air that had assaulted his throat. Finally, Ichigo looked up, freezing slightly when he realized that he recognized the faces that were watching him with a light sort of worry.

Well, _face_, really. Because the second face wasn't showing a single trace of worry. Just amusement. Without a single conscious briefing thought, his lips were pulled into a scowl as he glared straight into the man's electric blue eyes. Honestly, sometimes the man can just be _infuriating!_

Ignoring the primal urge to swat at the grinning Grimmjow (or hell, even just _growl _at him), he forced his neck to turn a few degrees to the side and silently prayed his lips had taken the shape of something a _little _more friendly, he stiffly said a quick salutation to the green-haired woman. Nel, having apparently come to the conclusion that he was okay, reached up and straightened Ichigo's jacket for him (a move that made him tense slightly--_I'm never going to get used to this kind of contact--)_ before stepping back and eyeing him with a large grin and greeted him back, "Hey Itsugo!"

Before he had the chance to wonder at the strange nickname she gave him, she immediately barreled into her own monologue, questioning him on what he was doing, where he was going, and whatever else that she had managed to say in that quick (yet oddly precise) way of hers. Head whirling from the mass of jumbled words, Ichigo ignored the grin that grew on the other currently-present man's face before locking his eyes onto Nel's vivid green ones. "Uh..." He allowed the slip, his tongue feeling slightly groggy as he struggled to put words and meanings together.

As he stared at her for a moment, he couldn't help but internally damn his people-skills to the deepest, darkest pits of hell. Honestly, why couldn't he have _one _conversation without either royally pissing someone off, cutting it short, making it awkward, or just generally seeming and feeling like the cliché fish out of water? Even _he--_

His cut his thoughts off. He couldn't sit there and ponder through his emotional dilemmas. Not when Nel was waiting for a response. "I just ate... and applied for a job here." He glanced off to the side, suspending all eye contact for the time being. Staring off down the road, eye following a yellow mustang (that was no-doubt _speeding_), he gave a quick, almost meek continuation. "Gonna go home... or go to the store," he finished, realizing that he needed to stock up on groceries. And probably look around for a good bike. _Like a mountain bike. A mountain bike would work out great..._

When Nel cleared her throat yet again, he became aware of the fact that he had disappeared into his thoughts yet again and fought to keep himself rubbing a hand nervously through his hair. The green-haired young woman thought nothing of the way he spoke, merely taking it in stride and quickly saying, "Really? Cool! You can give us discounts when you start work--everyone else that works here is so _stingy_!" She bounced on the balls of her feet. He didn't bother to point out the fallacy in her logic (what if he _didn't _get hired?) and allowed her to continue. "But anyways. We come here to eat lunch all the time. Just like today! We really like it here, right Grimm?" She looked over at her brother, who, if he was perfectly honest, he had totally forgotten about.

He really needed to stop zoning out.

After an enthusiastic (a little more uncomfortable on Ichigo's side) goodbye, Nel bounded up the steps, throwing the door wide open before darting inside with a loud, unintelligible shout. Ichigo stared after her for a moment before he realized that there were _two _people that he had run into, and only _one _had gone inside. After his mind quickly did the math (it was just a slow day for him. Really), he slowly turned back to Grimmjow. He sucked in a breath, finding himself a little weary with the way he was being watched. He was actually familiar with this sort of look--but it was the fact that it was on _Grimmjow _that made it really... _weird. _It wasn't the man's usual condescending smirk or petulant scowl. No...

It was a stare--of the analytical sort. The kind that felt like it pushed past the skin and deep into the soul, catching every last impurity beneath the surface. He clenched his fist, temper flaring. He knew it was a ridiculous reason to get upset, but he was a loner. He wasn't about to let anyone get beneath the surface, no matter how small the chance. Just as his anger did a brief rise, a somersault in the pit of his stomach, blue eyes snapped up, locking onto his molten brown orbs. Stares boring into one another, Ichigo felt his anger begin to dissipate, ebbing away like the sand falling to the bottom of an hourglass. He hesitantly pulled his gaze away from the taller man's, nodding ever so slightly in acknowledgment before maneuvering around him and making his way down the pavement, never saying a word or looking back.

**

* * *

**

Sinking back into the couch cushions, Ichigo blew out a rough sigh. He had gone to that day's classes, applied for a few jobs, gone to a store to buy a bike and chain (which he thought would take a lot longer, but... hey. He was thankful it only took a little less than half an hour), and then went a few stores down to pick up some essential groceries. Then he biked home and put up all of the food and that left him where he was now. Even though he hadn't done all that much today, he was absolutely exhausted (though, it could probably be attributed to the long bike-ride. He hadn't ridden on a bike in so _long)._

He groaned when he realized the night was far from over. As he stared at the clock, the numbers having little effect on his thought process (7:21), he fell victim to his thoughts once more. After a few moments of musing, he allowed his head to drop to the cushions of the couch. Fuck the homework. He was exhausted.

_Just _as he had been slipping into the curtains of sleep, there was a sharp rap on his front door, followed by a long ring of the doorbell. He growled to himself and pushed himself off of the couch, padding to the doorway with a very obvious scowl on his face. Undoing the lock and latch, he yanked the portal open, scowl slackening slightly when he came face to face with Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Was the fucker _stalking _him?

Without a single word of greeting, Grimmjow pushed past him, venturing further into the house. Ichigo stared at the empty space that the man had once been standing in, more than a little confused and rapidly growing irritated. Slamming the door shut, he followed after the man, fully intent on telling the fucker off. The man acted as if they were close friends or something and that it was _obvious _that he was going to be invited into Ichigo's home. (Though, Ichigo was a rather mannered individual, so he probably would have been eventually... but that was beside the point.)

Grimmjow, from where he was now seated (quite comfortably) on the couch, folded his fist, a little confused at the rush of annoyance that burst through him. _Why the hell..?_ He shook his head, shoving the alien feeling to the side. His eyes followed Ichigo as the red head walked into the room, coming to a halt right in front of him.

Ichigo stared at the man, willing him to say something about his rude trespassing. When the man chose to just stare right back, Ichigo narrowed his eyes, and bit out, "So..? What the fuck are you doing here?" The same as before, Grimmjow just stared back at him, not backing down and staying perfectly silent.

The orange-haired man took this as some sort of sign. It seemed like he couldn't blow off his homework and just sleep. Now would be as good a time as ever to get busy on it and get it done. Fuck Grimmjow. He reached for the bag sitting innocently by the couch, yanking out his homework as he flopped down in the corner seat of the couch, reading over the problems and scribbling down the answers quickly. There were a few minutes of silence where Ichigo was convinced that Grimmjow had been staring at him, almost feeling the searing burn of the man's gaze on his skin. There was at one point, however, that he came across a question that he could not figure out no matter how hard he tried. He had apparently alerted Grimmjow to his frustration (his sighs, maybe?), because he had slid a little closer and peered over his shoulder at the problem. After a few more seconds of silence, Grimmjow shook his head and said, "No. You can't do it like that... you have to put 'x' over here.." and proceeded to point out how to do the rest of the problem.

Ichigo, ignoring what would be his normal reaction to such close proximity (stiffening and then bolting from the room), nodded, realizing what Grimmjow was trying to show him. Quickly going through the problem and then jotting down the answer, he sailed through the following questions in an almost hurried pace. There was only the scratching sound of his pencil and the rustle of the sheets of his homework before the blue-eyed man cleared his throat and said, "Apparently you've got the job at _Soul Reaper's. _They just want an interview. Nel made me come here to tell you."

It took a moment for him to realize that the restaurant he had visited earlier that day was called _Soul Reaper's._ Surprise overshadowed the joy of getting a clear shot at a job. He turned and stared at Grimmjow (who just ignored him and continued to read over his homework like he hadn't said a damned thing in the first place), finally becoming _intrigued _with the man. He was just so _different. _The way he acted was just so _awkward. _And at the same time...

So _natural._

He found himself resisting the urge to laugh. So Grimmjow was just as socially-inept as him. All of that silence was probably just to build up to that point--to tell him that he got the job.

The night continued in near silence as he finished up his homework (every once in a while subjected to a few pointers from the Almighty Grimmjow). Then, when he was finished, Grimmjow stuck around for a few minutes, watching him put away his work before escorting himself to the door. The man was a tad startled to find Ichigo right behind him. There was a bit of an awkward moment as they stared at each other, trying to bring themselves to say something remotely close to the simple words of 'good bye'. Finally, Grimmjow slipped a smirk onto his face and just gave a short wave, turning to make his way down the outer-hallway. Ichigo watched him for a moment, eyes widening when he saw a child running the same way the man had just left, unable to stop herself from crashing into the man.

Grimmjow had heard the footsteps behind him and made to move, but was unable to in time. The child crashed into the backs of his legs, forcing him forward and into the railing, brutally hitting his foot against the metal. He let out a sharp, "fuck!" before rounding on the kid, intending to chew her out but finding himself unable to because she had already flown up and apologized before racing down the hall in a mere matter of seconds. Growling after the girl, Grimmjow continued down the hallway, ignoring his throbbing foot.

From the doorway, Ichigo glared at his own foot in irritation, idly wondering why the phantom pains were tormenting him. He slowly pulled the door shut and kicked off his shoes, wanting to double check to make sure that he wasn't really hurt. He had made the mistake more than once of assuming it was only phantom pains. Needless to say, he would be rather irritated to find at times that it _wasn't _a phantom pain and he was in fact bleeding all over himself without realizing it. Very annoying. After quickly assuring himself that, yes, he wasn't really hurt, he made his way around the house, shutting off all the lights.

True to Grimmjow's word, Ichigo got a call a little later that night, just as he was preparing for bed, informing him that he had indeed gotten the job and that he needed to show up at 2:30 sharp Monday afternoon for a formal interview and background check. Lying in bed and thinking over how productive the day had been, Ichigo's thoughts wandered back to his throbbing foot (which had yet to stop hurting). There was something bugging him about the pain, just eating at the farthest part of his brain. There was just this _nagging_ feeling...

Abruptly, his mind supplied him a flash of what had happened in the corridor right outside his apartment, the whole scene of Grimmjow hurting himself leaving an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was then that there was an abrupt focus on the timing of the man's injury, oddly coinciding with the exact moment that his own phantom pain had flared up. Ichigo shot to an upright position, mind and pulse racing as his thoughts became more and more bizarre.

"No..."

Memories surged through him, only further cementing his ridiculous notion. Grimmjow's knuckles. The punch to his arm. The man's headache. The uncanny timing of his _foot._

"Is that even...? No way..." Ichigo muttered softly to himself.

There was just no way.

_No. Fucking. Way._

**-Chapter End-**

Alright. I admit it. I procrastinated on this chapter. This is one of those chapters that I wasn't all too interested in writing (except for the climax-ish ending). So... this ended up taking _just _under a month to finish. It makes me a tad irritated with myself, but... -shrugs- Can't really help it. I was having fun searching through fanfiction for stories on my favorite pairings. Due to such a lack of these pairings, it tends to make me want to write my own stories on those specific pairings... so I end up battling down newly-forming plot bunnies.

Not to mention my best friend is threatening me (with what, I'm not quite sure... maybe pain?) to do a story on her favorite pairing. (That would be Spain X South Italy from Hetalia)

So... I'll probably end up having to put up a Hetalia fanfiction sometime within the next who-knows-how-long. Yes, Alorix. You saw that right. I'm a procrastinator. Deal with it. XP (Though, please take notice of the time of when this was _written. _Not posted.)

Also. It is during writing most of this particular chapter that I realize that I seem to have a sort of attraction to scenes at the typical restaurant/cafe setting. Chances are, I'll randomly have them plugged into other parts of this story later on down the line. And probably other stories, too. XD

Do you guys honestly need a hint?

_Review,_

**Review,**

_**Review!!**_


	5. So Absolute

Yuck. I'm tired of school. I just want to _s__leep. _Though, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels that way.

Started January 19th.

Completed February 19th.

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Woe.

I don't own Mercedes-Benz. Or any single model of it.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 5**

**So Absolute**

**

* * *

  
**

Chocolate brown eyes stared dully at the board, not even registering the persistent droning of the professor at the front of the large classroom. He hadn't been able to concentrate ever since he had stepped through the door to the class. _Hell, _he hadn't been able to concentrate since that singular moment last night when that _absolutely insane_ idea had made its way into his head.

Needless to say, he didn't get much sleep the night before.

The scenes whirled through Ichigo's head, continuously rewinding and replaying, like a terrible, grainy vhs stuck on repeat. It was giving him a migraine.

Oddly enough, it wasn't as hard as one would expect to wrap his head around such a notion. He had grown up all his life knowing that he was different. He had avoided any sort of social contact, physical contact, withdrawing due to an irrational fear of being hurt--even if it technically wasn't all that irrational.

Just for being different.

Ichigo had learned his lesson. It took him a while, but he learned. Never again did he want to go through such pain as he had. The pain of being rejected and denied by someone who you became close to. The young man had learned this through many different times. He had been rejected by his classmates as a child, called a liar by his friends... and crushed by the girl who claimed to be his sweetheart.

Nothing could explain the way that felt. There were simply no words. A 'flood' didn't cut it. A 'hurricane' wasn't enough. The closest way he could possibly ever get close to synonymizing the feelings would be 'drowning in a cold sea of fire'. So blissfully silent, terribly agonizing, and so beautifully final. So ludicrously contradictory.

As his thoughts drifted over the girl, he never noticed the snort that had escaped when the thought had bubbled up. It was sad--at one point he could remember every single feature of her face, every single quirk, the way her hair would flip at the ends, just _everything._ Now he couldn't even remember her name. Granted, he never loved her. He just wanted a chance at having a relationship--to become both physically and emotionally close with someone. Ichigo had figured it wouldn't hurt to make an attempt at an actual relationship. Too bad he was wrong.

It was a short relationship back in his freshman year of high school. A little under two weeks, actually. He knew better than to trust people with his secret, but the moment he told her... he knew he had messed up. Ichigo remembered wondering why the hell she was smiling before she had said, something along the lines of, "I knew it! I win!"

As it turned out, she had made a bet with her friends about his 'oddity'.

The moment that happened, the warm happiness had quickly morphed into cold, stomach-dropping fear. It was only a matter of seconds before even that was washed away, leaving a cold, empty, unfeeling husk in place of where his caring heart used to be.

He figured it out--and the moment he realized that it was pointless, he sealed it all inside. Nobody needed to know his pain. He was different. He knew that. But he could live with it. Ichigo knew he couldn't go off telling random people about his secret. It was at that point in time, that he finally closed himself off. Nobody else would be allowed to see into his core.

No more.

The red head growled to himself, his thoughts taking a turn for the worse. His head slipped off of his palm (his arm having been propped up on the desk) and gave a rather bland thunk against the wood of the desk. Without pause, he picked his head up from the desk and fixed himself back into the same position, never once shifting in his thoughts. Continuing to delve through the darkest recesses of his mind (and therefore not noticing the sketchy looks being directed his way by a few close-by students), he made a roundabout turn to the matter at hand. The connection to Grimmjow.

It was actually a bit comforting to find that his irregularity was due to another person. At least that proved he wasn't crazy. _Though... _he mused to himself, _perhaps that just _confirms _my insanity. _He blinked slowly, allowing his sight to return to him as he gazed blearily around the room, just barely seeing his surroundings. His eyes landed on the clock, the vague realization of the class' impending dismissal causing him to subconsciously reach for his bag to pull it closer.

All these years he had strange phantom pains at the most random of moments. He could be waving when he would be suddenly hit with a stinging sensation on the back of his wrist or laying back and relaxing when a dull pain would shoot up his leg--all for no apparent reason. And after hours upon hours of thinking upon this, he came to the final conclusion: it was all because of Grimmjow. It had to be. It wasn't so bad. Now he had a reason for all the years of solitude.

He was just stuck on the fact that it was _Grimmjow _of all people.

A self-centered, stubborn jackass that seemed to have a knack for goading people into fights. Ichigo fought back a groan. _Just my luck to share the pain of a bull-headed dumbass with a talent for finding himself in a physical confrontation._

Ichigo was snapped from his thoughts when a noisy clatter erupted around him, bringing his vision back into focus. Students were already racing for the doorway at the front of the classroom, eager to get out of the educational environment. Since the class was apparently dismissed, he stood up a little belatedly, throwing the strap of his bag over his shoulder as he slowly made his own way to the door, trying desperately to keep his thoughts from overtaking his whole sense of reality and chase each other in circles in his head.

It was a fruitless effort. He was already lost to the world around him, lost deep within his own roaming thoughts once more.

**

* * *

**

That day, he had forgotten that he had to attend the formal interview to get the job at _Soul Reaper's._ After having belatedly realized that he actually had some place (rather important) to be, he had rushed out the door and snatched up his bike, hurriedly pedaling to make it on time. He was rather proud to find that he actually made it a few minutes early.

There were only a few simple questions asked about what he thought about certain issues and how he thought would be the appropriate way to act in a certain situation. After only a good ten minutes or so of incessant questioning, the man (he called himself Ukitake) had stood and jovially shook his hand, exuberantly welcoming him to the staff. He had been officially hired as a waiter.

Actually, when he had signed up, he had wanted to work in the back. The less people he made contact with, the better. But for some reason, Ukitake was positively convinced that he would make an excellent waiter and would 'attract a bit of a wider range of customers'. Truth be told, he didn't really like the way that sounded, but... he really needed the job. He couldn't exactly be picky. So, he was to officially start work that Wednesday, thankfully with a relatively flexible schedule that easily fit around all of his classes.

By the time he had gotten home, Ichigo was already changing into more casual clothes and heading out the door to attend his second class for the day.

Once more, the day was spent in a state of disconnection, Ichigo merely allowing his feet to take him subconsciously to where he needed to be. When he finally realized how far lost he had been in his thoughts, he had already made it into the threshold of his home once more, school bag and textbook in hand. Ichigo stared down at the shiny red textbook in confusion. _When the hell did I get that out?_

Shaking off the strange feeling, he waltzed over to the couch and plopped down, opening it up to a sloppily marked page (thankfully he could let his body run on autopilot when absorbed in his thoughts) and yanked out a sheet of paper, hurriedly going through the problems before he was swallowed by his thoughts once more. _Just _as he had snapped the book shut, his phone went off in his pocket, a catchy guitar rhythm vibrating against his thigh.

He dug out the phone and flipped it open, having just brought it within a foot of his ear before he heard a loud, "_Iiiiiiiiiiiitsugoooo!_" Glad that the phone was a good distance from his ear at the time of the yell, he raised an eyebrow. "Nel?" Within his own thoughts, however, he wondered how Nel had gotten his number. There was very little thought before he settled on his answer. _Tatsuki._

"Yep! It's me, alright. I just wanted to call and let you know that we decided that we were gonna go out and have a bit of fun." His brow furrowed and he frowned, restraining a weary sigh. Couldn't people just leave him alone? He was in the middle of some very complicated and deliberate revelations. He had just opened his mouth to reject the clearly obvious offer when he was interrupted by the excited girl (for she couldn't be called a woman with her childish personality). "Oh yeah. And Tatsuki says you have to come. No exceptions." There was the brash laughter of the aforementioned woman in the background.

He didn't restrain his groan.

_Damn _it.

Before he could slip into his thoughts about Tatsuki surely beating the crap out of him if he decided not to go, Nel stated slyly, "Grimmjow's gonna go, too." He blinked, laying back and staring upward unseeingly. Why the fuck should that matter to _him? _I mean, obviously, there's the whole connection with the man, but it's not like any of _them _knew that. Other than the odd connection (_maybe, _he reminded himself, _I need to confirm it)_, he had absolutely no affiliation to Grimmjow. _Except for the fact that you think the man is eye-candy, _his mind traitorously supplied.

Ichigo knew it was pointless to argue with himself, so he conceded. _Okay. So he's good looking. There's nothing wrong with that. But that's it. It's not like I'm attracted to him..._ When his mind started to take a turn for the worst (in other words, when the realization that he _was_, in fact, attracted to Grimmjow tried to make its debut), he jarred himself back to reality.

He stared at the cieling for a few moments before he muttered, "Fine. Where should I meet you?" There was a squeal of happiness (no doubt Nel's), before she hurriedly said, "Don't worry about it. We'll send someone to pick you up." For some reason, that statement set off clear, blaring warning bells in his mind. Before he could reject at least _that _offer (alright, so it wasn't an offer--more like a 'this-is-going-to-happen' statement), Nel had already hung up, and the line went dead.

**

* * *

**

You know, there were times when Ichigo _despised _how dead-on his instincts were. Who else could they have sent but _Grimmjow?_

He sat moodily in the passenger seat of the man's car, brand-new leather seats squeaky against his jeans. The car had been delivered to Grimmjow only a few short days ago, a replacement for the last car that had been damaged (apparently by a girlfriend of Grimmjow's--served him right). Ichigo resigned himself to staring out the lightly tinted window of the Mercedes-Benz.

It was unfair--he wasn't finished with his thoughts! He was still trying to come to terms with the whole idea (He might have been able to get accustomed to the idea of an outside force attributing to his 'problem' pretty easily... but he still had to think about the face that it was _Grimmjow _causing his problem). Granted, he wanted desperately to test the idea to be absolutely certain, but... Now that he was sitting next to the blue haired man, he wasn't quite sure on how to proceed. How was he supposed to test such a thing? Punch him and see if it hurt? That would obviously be a red flag to anybody who saw such an action. So then, what? What was he supposed to do?

His brows furrowed in deep thought.

_This... is a bit harder than I thought it would be._

Ichigo never noticed the way that Grimmjow would look over at him with that intense expression of his every few seconds.

**

* * *

**

Ichigo was _not _amused.

The girls (more specifically, Nel and Tatsuki--he wasn't sure if Inoue was in on it, and Rukia... who knew what the hell _she _was thinking?) were _obviously_ up to something. Ichigo eyed them with a scowl from his own table with Grimmjow. All of their other friends had taken the two tables to the right, but since there wasn't enough room, Ichigo had volunteered to sit alone. Of course, they didn't want him to be alone, so who else should be ousted but _Grimmjow?_ Now, if this weren't telling enough, one may ask: how _else_ is it obvious?

Well, the fact that they kept looking between him and Grimmjow and kept giggling wasn't exactly hard to catch. He could easily discern _why _there were pointed looks and hidden giggles, but he did _not _want to step foot into that territory. His mind would undoubtedly turn against him and side with the girls. But then again, he currently had no idea what they were talking about, so how should he know..?

He gave a quiet groan to himself, resting his head on his palms, ignoring the way the brashly loud music rhythmically thumped the table beneath him. He did not need his mind to start taking two different sides. It wasn't healthy for what little sanity he still had! Thankfully it was rather dark. The girls had led them to a rather shady looking night club on the other side of the city. It was one of those types that let older teenagers in, but made you show your ID at the bar--one of the very few in that city. That was how he found himself sitting at a rinky-dink table at the back of the establishment, darting cautious eyes all around himself. This was pretty close to the top of his list of 'places to be most uncomfortable in'. There were too many people. If you needed a drink, you had to shove through a mass of bodies. If you needed to take a piss, you had to shove through almost twice as many. (Who the hell had the brilliant idea to put the dance floor between the tables and the bathrooms when creating the floor-plans? Honestly...)

Fighting back a second groan, Ichigo covered his face with his hands for a moment before letting them slide dramatically down his cheeks. Seriously--the looks that Grimmjow were sending him definitely weren't helping either. Every time he glanced the man's way, there was this weird, heated look on his features, his eyes practically glued onto him. He wouldn't even try to conceal his staring, just continuing to fixedly watch Ichigo, apparently lost in his own thoughts.

It was really freaking him out.

_No_, Ichigo twitched, having just turned and caught the man's eye once more. _Correction:_

It was starting to piss him off.

At this moment, Ichigo's mind decided to (belatedly) remind him of what his prior thoughts during the day had concluded. The tests. _Of course, _he smirked to himself for a second before directing it conspiratorially at Grimmjow. _That would work nicely._

He had a quick and simple plan, just enough to allow him to make a quick test of his theory without drawing too many curious gazes.

Abruptly standing and ignoring the way Grimmjow's eyes maintained their careful watch of him, he made his way to the bar and ordered a non-alcoholic drink (he was, after all, still underage). As soon as the bartender had allowed the glass to clink to the counter, Ichigo had snatched it up and downed it, tossing the glass back down onto the counter before stepping away.

Step 1; Find an excuse to get up.

Check.

He eyed the dance floor with a faux sense of contemplation, putting on a display of deciding whether he should join the writhing mass of bodies or not. (As _if! _He would definitely avoid that like the plague--but Grimmjow didn't quite know that yet.) After a brief second, he took a few steps toward it, bypassing the spot he had been sitting in before. Watching Grimmjow out of the corner of his eye, he made slow and steady steps toward the dance floor, abruptly stopping when the blue haired man shifted.

It had looked like the man was toying with the idea of following him.

_Ha, _Ichigo mocked in his head, squashing the odd flare in his chest. _Yeah right._

He took a small step to the side, finally making a straight line out of where he stood and his former seat, with Grimmjow's seat neatly sandwiched in-between. After observing the dance floor for a few seconds longer, he shook his head, acting as if he had decided against the initial dance he had desired.

Step 2; Find an excuse to pass directly by Grimmjow.

Check.

He darted a quick, casual, cursory view of behind him, twitching anxiously when another person started to walk by.

_Now or never, _his mind hissed to him and he pivoted on his foot, timing his strides so that he would bump into the passerby. A quiet curse from the small woman he had rammed into and the quick apology he had muttered back (unheard over the music) did nothing to stop his stumble past her, causing him to hop directly onto one of Grimmjow's feet.

Step 3; Hurt Grimmjow.

Check.

"Fuck!" Grimmjow quickly retracted his foot out of the way, sliding it back underneath the table as Ichigo caught himself and stood up straight. Biting his lip to hold back his own curse, he pulled in a sharp, biting breath of the muggy air before releasing it quickly. Muttering yet another apology (that was, again, unheard) he moved around the table and collapsed into his seat, immediately raising his unhurt foot to lightly rub over the newly throbbing one.

His head thunked to the table as he drew in another breath, allowing himself to recollect his thoughts. When they had gathered and pieced themselves together, however, he wanted nothing more than to huff childishly. It seemed as if the fates really _had _connected him to Grimmjow. Blowing out a rapid breath of air (resulting in it coming out as a raspberry), Ichigo finally raised his head, freezing when he found the electric blue eyes concentrated on him once more.

He'd forgotten about where he was.

Slowly trailing his eyes over to the table next to them, where most of their other friends sat, he blinked when he found Tatsuki watching him, too. She tilted her head silently in question, purple hair catching brightly in a roving strobe light. To her, it was clear that the whole thing had been an act--she had always known about Ichigo's dislike of crowds (meaning that she had definitely planned for the entire club-outing to be a form of torture for him).

Ichigo shook his head in a conclusive sort of manner, turning his attention back to Grimmjow. The man was _still _watching him!

_What the hell? _Ichigo scowled at him, a stray thought slamming into his current line of thought, causing his lips to curl in thought.

_What if it works the _other _way around?_

Granted, there was no appearance of Grimmjow having an oddity such as his own. He seemed to be rather normal... save for his horrid personality--but that was a totally different matter to be set for further discussion at a later time. Either way, he couldn't help but hope, right?

Nodding to himself, Ichigo bit his lip and focused his attention on something else--the heady beat of the music thumping around him, the musty smell all around the club, the dull taste of who-knows-what on his tongue--something, anything, _everything._

Sucking in a breath as soon as Grimmjow's eyes wandered away for the faintest of moments, he raised a hand and balled it into a fist, rushing it down upon it's innocent twin laying upon the table's surface. As soon as his fist connected, the table made a noisy clanking sound as the glasses upon the top jolted, and a sharp pain shot up the nerves in his arm, causing him to curse.

Loudly.

Grimmjow swerved around and looked at him in confusion, quickly deducing what had happened (sort of... it's not like he knew that he did it on _purpose_) when he saw the way the orange haired young man was cradling his hand and (presumably) spewing curses under his breath. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow and gave a small smirk, undeterred by the resulting growl from Ichigo. He held out his hand to the younger man, not even bothering to speak.

When the blue haired man held his hand out, Ichigo stared at it questioningly for a few moments before glancing up at the electric blue eyes. Grimmjow rolled his eyes and waved his hand slightly, finally getting the message across. After a few seconds of fierce deliberation, Ichigo slowly extended his own hurt hand, terribly cautious. Raising his eyebrow once more at the strange display of nerves, Grimmjow snatched his hand up, leaning in close to get a look at the reddened and swelling skin. With a frown, he brushed his other hand against it softly, mouth twitching upward at the shiver that went up Ichigo's arm. When he looked up, however, his lips formed into a feral, pleased smirk.

When Grimmjow had leaned close, his breath had fanned over his skin, creating a tingling sensation over the pain-affected area. If that weren't enough, the skin on skin friction had sent a mortifying jolt of pleasure up his arm. Now, Ichigo wasn't one to blush, but he could immediately feel the flush taking over his cheeks, an almost foreign heat settling over his face. When he realized Grimmjow was now watching him, he snatched his hand back and aimed his gaze away, toward the bar were a myriad of people milled about.

His dismayed thoughts were jarred, however, when his eyes caught the neon glow of the digital clock upon the wall next to the stylishly stacked booze. "Fuck!" He let out an unrestrained curse and stood up quickly, knocking over his chair. The small group of friends (many of the others had wandered off to the dance floor, apparently, during his contemplation time) still sitting at the tables glanced curiously in his direction. He hurriedly slipped his jacket on and caught Chad's eye.

Leaning closer to the tan-skinned man (who he had behind-hand realized had been sitting at the next table over all along) and said loudly enough for him to hear, "I have work tomorrow. Tell Tatsuki that I'll talk to her later." When Chad nodded and opened his mouth to say something, Ichigo quickly cut him off and said, "It's fine. I'll just call a cab." The man nodded once more and bid him a farewell.

Thus, Ichigo moved away from the table, dodging around all of the wandering people in the club, studiously ignoring the burning feeling of Grimmjow's eyes trailing after him. When he had turned, though, he never noticed the look of mixed feelings upon Nel's face before she had stood up and followed after him.

Welcoming the breath of fresh, cold air when he stepped outside of the establishment, Ichigo stood and stared at the quiet, empty street. He had finally, without a doubt, found his answer.

Ichigo could feel Grimmjow's pain.

He allowed the revelation to fully set in, an odd feeling of anxiety attacking his limbs and pulling at his gut. It sounded so... final. Definite.

Absolute.

No more wondering what was wrong with him and why he felt random bursts of pain. He had his answer and it wasn't going to change. Ichigo didn't even bother deliberating on the fact of Grimmjow being on the other side of the connection. He didn't really like it all that much, but there was nothing he could do to change that, so he wasn't going to waste time worrying about it.

Blowing out a final, farewell sigh to his days of hurt ignorance, Ichigo pulled out his cell phone to call a cab, but halted when a voice called out to him.

"Ichigo!" He stopped in his tracks, a melancholy feeling of wonder and confusion sweeping through him when he connected the voice with a face. But she never called him that anymore... He pivoted in time to see Nel stumble out of the club, the heavy door swinging shut behind her. She let out a brief huff of breath before fixing him with a serious gaze.

"We need to talk."

**-Chapter End-**

Oooh, _drama. _I don't exactly know where the first part with all the angst came from, but it seems to work out the way I want to. Hahaha. Then I hoped I could lighten it up with his 'tests'. I did a _ton _of planning whilst writing this chapter. Quite honestly, I was hit up with a shitload of ideas for a bunch of scenes and had to save all of them under a file to sort out. Lol. I was really pleased. (For a little while there, I was worried that it would only be a 6 or 7 chapter fic. At this point, it'll probably be 11 or 12 chapters at least.)

As for anyone curious about the 2-week girlfriend: it isn't that important. It was just to serve as a wake-up call that he is _different _and to let you guys know he's going to be a stubborn bastard when it counts (If that isn't foreshadowing, I don't know _what _is)_._ So, I didn't even bother giving her a name or features. Haha. Plus, I don't like to make up OCs... and I couldn't really fit anyone into that characterization from Bleach, so... I just left it as is.

Anyways. I kind of got ahead of myself and wrote one of the oh-so-important ending scenes. -coughs- ...SO. Look forward to it. I'm so excited about it that I find it a little hard to type (I keep on making mistakes. Lol.)

Uh... I know some people are going to be like, "wouldn't he be a little more affected by this revelation?"... But I feel like, the way I set his character up in this particular story, he gets over strange things like that a lot quicker than the average person was. Plus, he's kinda been fretting over it for an entire day, quite literally almost nonstop. I'm gonna give him a break. XD

Say whuuuut?

_Review,_

**Review,**

_**Review!!**_


	6. So Astonishing

Good God, I've had no time to work on this. It's just... so frustrating! Just when I finish that massively terrifying (horribly huge, monstrously insane... there are too many adjectives that I could use..) project, I get sacked with a ton of homework over the weekend.

Sorry~ I know it must be frustrating to you guys, too. I'm pretty sure I would be pissed when the updates are biweekly, even though I've been continuously promising you guys that it would turn into a weekly thing. -groans-

On the _bright _side, however, Spring Break is coming up. And because I have been so annoyingly late with my updates, I have resolved to finish at least two chapters during that week. I also have to finish one of the promised chapters of Fluctuating Hearts for my friend.

-head/desk- I hate March...

Started March 8th.

Completed March 12th.

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Gloom.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 6**

**So Astonishing**

**

* * *

  
**

Today was most definitely not his day. Ichigo couldn't help but growl to himself as he shuffled through the rapidly growing pile of hand-size notebook pages. He'd started work today. If he had thought breakfast was busy... Good lord, was he choking on _that _thought.

It was barely 12:30 and already his hand was cramping from all of the furious scribbles that he had made on the poor, nearly completely bare (from tearing out so many pages) notebook. _Perhaps, _he thought, allowing himself a bit of (likely false) hope, _it's only because its Saturday._

According to Rukia, it was like this most of the days of the week, except Sunday. On Sunday it was really slow in the morning. And _then _it got busy for lunch. As he spotted yet another slip that had already been filled, he crumpled it up and tossed it in the bin beside him, not sparing a single look to check and make sure that he had made it. When he had shown up for work that morning, he had been rather surprised to find that he actually _knew _quite a few of the employees at Soul Reaper.

Rukia worked there, along with a few other students from his classes (a red-head named Renji, a bald guy called Ikkaku, a short kid--Toushiro, amongst a few select others). Now, to be perfectly honest, Ichigo wasn't sure if this was a positive thing. The second he had stepped through the doors, wondering where the hell he should go, Rukia had stepped up in that oddly-proud stance of hers and pompously declared that she would work him to the bone.

She _wasn't lying._

Luckily, Ichigo caught onto things rather quickly. He had been sent out without being told what to do ("a crash course," Rukia had said), and just naturally took up the position of waiter and worked from there. Granted, he still felt really uncomfortable (especially when he had a little bit of covert and not-so-covert oggling... He had sufficiently figured out exactly what Ukitake had meant during the interview) and had to _literally _bite his tongue to keep from snapping at a few choice people (he directed a glare to the giggling high-schoolers in the furthest corner booth), but he found that this was probably a job he could deal with.

When the tables had filled up, Rukia had smiled sweetly at him (he was still shivering) and directed him over to the little window area connecting the kitchen to the outside--the spot where he was supposed to tack on the next orders for the cooks. From that point, he was told to get rid of the slips that had already been cooked and sent to the tables--the ones that had a little mark in the corner.

Snagging another couple of slips out of the pile, he lined the remaining 5 or so side by side and double-checked their time and the small marking that had been put on them by the sous chef. It was at this point that Ichigo congratulated himself on having the foresight to scribe the time that the order was taken. As he started to tack the remaining slips up once more, the sous chef, a rather vertically-challenged blond man named Kira, leaned over and stole a slip from his hand, quickly reading it over and, due to habit, quickly yanked out marker and was about the swipe it over when he paused and glanced at Ichigo. After a moment's deliberation, he gave an embarrassed smile and then handed the slip back to Ichigo, already knowing that he would understand what to do. He then turned around and called out the order, laughing as a few of his assistants scrambled around to retrieve the needed ingredients.

He balled up the slip and was about to walk out when Kira called back to him. "Oh, Ichigo!" He stopped and looked over his shoulder, genuinely curious. Kira pointed to the time table beside the door he had just been about to exit and said, "Be sure to check for your lunch break. You're going to need any break you can get in this joint."

The orange-haired man nodded before looking over the time table thoughtfully, running his finger down all the names before he caught his own and trailed it across to find that day's break time.

Just 15 more minutes.

There was an indescribable amount of ecstatic pleasure that had bounded through his system at the realization and he threw open the door with a renewed vigor. He had only 15 more minutes before he could pass out and have a bit of relaxation.

When he walked into the dining area, however, he spied a head of very familiar green hair out of the corner of his eye and froze. Head turning in a mechanical fashion, his eyes locked on Nel. The girl seemed to realize that she was the subject of scrutiny and glanced up, frown turning into a wide, childish smile as she waved at him cheekily.

Damn. And he'd almost forgotten about their talk the night before.

_"I would really like to speak to you about some serious things. Can I have a bit of your time?" _she had asked, eyes dark and serious as they watched him.

A little unnerved by her behavior, he replied in turn, _"Sure... but not right now. I've got work tomorrow... I really need to get some sleep... so..."_

She had watched him for a moment longer before giving a slow nod and then said, _"Alright. I'll contact you some other time, then."_

_Why _did it have to be during his break?

The rest of his shift before break wasn't nearly as positive as it had been before. Now, the minutes no longer counted down his time for a physical break. They now counted down to a time when he would surely be mentally strained.

Great.

Too fast, his break had arrived and he reluctantly clocked out, eying the wall of the worker's break room, behind which Nel surely sat in anticipation. Trudging to the door and sliding through it, he kept his eyes on the floor as he approached the table. Sliding into the booth, he reluctantly lifted his head and gazed at her. Breath freezing slightly in his lungs, he felt his stomach drop when he spied her usual childish expression tinged with a seriousness that could not be faked.

For Nel to be serious, this meant that her subject had quite a bit of depth.

Sucking in a calming breath of air, he finally said, "So... what is it that you needed to speak to me about?" He leaned back against the plastic of the booth chair, eyes wandering off to observe the people at other tables. For a second, he heard nothing from the person across from him, just a dull hum of conversation from others around him. Then, she quietly cleared her throat and said, "Well... I just wanted to ask..." It was obvious from her tone how hesitant she was.

_No, _he thought to himself with a frown. _Not quite hesitant... more like... undecided? _It was like she was trying to decide upon the perfect question.

He made sure to keep his gaze on other groups around the establishment, not even bothering to ask upon this. Nel coughed into her hand slightly before she finally blurted, "Why are you so weird?"

And it was the perfect question, indeed.

After the initial tensing in response to a question so oddly accurate on his thoughts, he forced himself to relax and blew out a quiet breath of air. For a few moments, he maintained silence before finally saying, "I don't really know what you mean."

Seeing her frown from the corner of his eye, he prayed to every God that she would just let the subject drop. He wasn't given that luxury.

"You don't like being around people, you don't like physical contact... or really any sort of emotional contact, actually. You flinch at the most random times, and... I just know you're hiding something. Something that both Tatsuki and Chad know."

Ichigo had to resist the primal urge to growl at her. It was none of her business! Chad knew because he was his closest friend and he had been foolish enough back then to divulge his secret. The only reason why Tatsuki knew was because she had figured it out on her own and called him out on it. Otherwise, they were the only people outside of his family that knew.

And that wasn't going to change.

"Look, it's nothing alright, I just get muscle spasms and stuff at random moments..." He trailed off and cursed under his breath, realizing his mistake. While trying to ignore the part about his tendency to shy away from human contact, he had still revealed a little bit about his oddity. While it was a lie and pretty misleading from the truth, it was actually a speculation that he and his father had over his strange case. He had accidentally revealed a huge clue... just because he had found out basically the whole picture a few days ago.

Not even thinking about how it would look to the outside observer, he rested his elbows on the table and buried his head in his arms. The tip of his nose touching the table, he forced himself to calm down, feelings of fear washing over him from a time long past. He didn't reveal enough to attract unwanted attention. It was fine. He was fine. It was going to be fine.

Everything was fine.

The woman across from him seemed to understand the atmosphere and wisely kept quiet. As Ichigo kept his head down, maintaining the silence, she frowned to herself.

_Damn. That isn't what I wanted to ask..._

She shrugged slightly, as if to brush it off. Initially, she had sensed a bit of the tension between her brother and him--in the good way. So... she had actually intended to find a way to set him up with her brother, but... she chickened out at the last moment.

Therefore she went to the next best thing. It was a question that she was rather curious about, but.. the way the young man reacted when she asked... now that was just _intriguing. _Blowing a clump of hair out of her face, she set her own elbows on the table and rested her chin atop her laced fingers, staring thoughtfully at the head of orange hair. She gave him a few more moments before she switched back over to her cheerful attitude. Being serious was just too much of a _strain!_

"Soooo. Itsugo," she smiled when he lifted her head, a seemingly relieved expression upon his face. So he thought he was in the clear... Internally, she laughed in an almost maniacal way. He most definitely wasn't out of the danger zone... but she would give him a break for today. Instead of the questions that had pushed forth to the forefront of her mind a few minutes ago, she asked, "Do you know about the whole North-South thing of Seireitei?"

Ears perking in interest, Ichigo slowly shook his head in the negative, finally feeling a bit more comfortable with the topic at hand. He relaxed and leaned back against the plastic seat once more, waving his hand slightly to indicate for her to continue.

Nel seemed to inflate, picking her head up from its perch upon her hands as a teeth-showing smile stole across her lips. "Well, you did realize that the University is on the edge of the city, right?" Ichigo nodded in turn. He had actually wondered about that, seeing a 'you are leaving Society City' sign right next to the campus. She nodded along with him and said, "Well, the truth is, not all of the campus is in Society City. To be more accurate, half of the University's campus is in Society City, while the other half is situated in the neighboring city, Hueco Mundo. Each half is referred to as North and South... But lately, the Northern half has been referred to as Seireitei while the Southern half is called Los Noches. Actually," she paused, a finger held to her chin thoughtfully. "I'm not sure if it's totally intended this way, but the entire Northern half--that is, Seireitei, is the health division. The Southern half--Las Noches--is business oriented."

Ichigo nodded passively at the information. It was really weird for a University to be split between two cities, between two major factors of study, _and _two names, but... it wasn't really like he could say much. To confirm if he got it right, he slowly said, "So... That would make me part of the... Northern division? Seireitei?" Nel nodded, ecstatic that her new friend could catch onto everything so fast.

The red head sifted through his thoughts, spontaneously remembering that Grimmjow attended the same University. Without any real thought behind the matter, he asked, "What division is Grimmjow in?"

A grin danced across her face, making Ichigo fervently wish he had kept his mouth shut. She watched him squirm for a moment, amused by the fact that he had actually asked before she said, "Las Noches." Her companion gave a rather uncomfortable nod and turned away, again staring at the people lumbering around them. Resisting the urge to laugh at his predictable actions, she decided to give him a bit of a reprieve.

"So... by the looks of it, you got a rather good position here, huh?" She waved a hand in general toward the middle of the restaurant, eyes lingering on a few patrons.

Again, Ichigo relaxed a bit, thankful for the subject change. He nodded, a little curious at the blatantly obvious act. She already knew, so why was she asking? He responded in a not-so-suave playful tone of his own. "Yeah, but you would know that already, anyways."

Immediately attentive about this, Nel knew she had to play her cards carefully, lest her hand be rendered useless. She had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. So, in response, she raised an eyebrow in a playful manner, and said, "Oh, really?"

The orange-haired man nodded yet again before replying, "Yeah..." he rolled his eyes and said, "You sent Grimmjow to tell me I got the job, after all."

_Oh. _Now _that _was just the _perfect _teasing material. She suddenly had the distinct urge to tap her fingertips together and cackle. Normally she would without any restraint, but... she didn't want to tip Ichigo off. _Alright, bro. I'll keep quiet this time... but you _owe _me. _She internally vowed.

She had never said any such thing. In fact, she never even knew that Ichigo had actually gotten the job. Her brother had lingered behind and... well, by the looks of it, used his gained information as an excuse to see the lovely young man. A truly giddy feeling wracked her frame. This was just way too good. Things were already progressing so quickly. She knew that they retained some sort of attraction for each other, but... they only needed a general push, apparently.

Ichigo, seeming to sense the dangerous turn that her thoughts had taken, glanced nervously at the clock on the wall and almost gave a whoop. His break time was officially over in about a minute. He gestured to the wall, limbs practically shaking from relief, and dismissed himself from her company. He had to groan, however, when she said, "Oh, I'll meet you back up here after you get off. Five o' clock, right?"

She wasn't about to let this matter go. She gave him a bit of a grin, silently resolving to pursue the relationship matter further later. She'd obviously gone to the lengths to make sure that she knew where he was going to be. Nel wasn't going to rest until she had him cornered and had her answers.

**

* * *

**

Meanwhile, a few miles away, Szayel glanced about the dimly lit room, barely registering the dusty smell of the books permeating the air. He calmly strode down the isle, casually allowing a finger to graze along row upon row of book spines. After a few turns down a few different isles, he finally slowed to a stop, deliberately glancing at the labels of the books.

Finally, his golden eyes halted on the one he desired, and his thin lips twisted into a smirk.

Exactly what he'd been looking for.

Slipping a finger on top of the book, he delicately pulled it from the shelf, rubbing a hand over the cover and tracing the golden curling letters before he cracked open the book and began his trek to the checkout counter, charming the librarian as she rang up the book. With one last bone-melting smirk in the woman's direction, he walked out the door, feeling that this book was going to unlock many different answers for him and their group of friends.

**

* * *

**

As he went back to work, he found his body moving on autopilot once more, his thoughts absorbing all of his thinking processes. Once he really thought about it, though, he found himself curious. If Grimmjow was in the Southern section--Las Noches, that really would explain why he'd never really seen him on campus. But that meant he was in the business section... so what exactly was he planning on pursuing?

Shrugging to himself, he found the hours flying by, 5 o' clock arriving way too early for his tastes. As Ichigo clocked out, he didn't even bother to feed the hope trying to settle in his belly. Swinging the door open and stepping into the dining area, he wasn't mistaken to find a head of green hair by the front doors of the restaurant. He approached her, as soon as he stepped within a few feet of her, green eyes focused on him and crinkled as she gave a bright smile. He gave a small smile in return.

Internally though, he heaved a dramatic sigh and asked, "will I ever be free?"

After deciding to just have him walk her home (she had been "out shopping" nearby and needed an escort home... not that he believed it), they made their way to the doors and had been just about to open them to leave when they swung open of their own accord. Dodging back to avoid getting hit, Ichigo and Nel looked up, their eyes landing on the last person they really expected.

Grimmjow.

Electric blue eyes immediately found his own soft brown, and Grimmjow stepped up to him, gait strong and sure. He stopped in front of Ichigo and paused, watching him quietly for a moment as Nel stared at the scene in mild confusion. Had the red head pissed her brother off?

Her brother's eyes seemed to be in war with different emotions. Finally, after he seemed to decide on something, he gave a sharp nod to himself and then said, "Would you like to go on a date with me, Ichi?" The only thing the poor young man could do was gape in confused astonishment.

The biggest grin stretch across the green haired woman's face, and this time, she didn't restrain the conniving cackle.

It looked like Nel's push wasn't needed after all.

**-Chapter End-**

Oh man. I made Nel a little... _stranger _in this one. Not really intended, but... I think I'm going to like portraying her this way. XD

Anyways. A new development! How many of you guys love me for the progress? (And subsequently hate me for the cliffie?) Yay! I don't really do the whole... "oh, would you like to date?" sort of thing. I like the assumed sort of dating... where they both know what it is, but it doesn't have to be said. But it's necessary for the plotline of this story, and so I shall make it happen. Oh, sorry for the shortness of the chapter, too.

And OH LORD! It's Spring Break! Meaning some actual time to get some chapters written up! I've fallen so far behind in my writing lately... it makes me kind o---AND OMG! DID YOU GUYS READ THE LATEST CHAPTER OF BLEACH! **YUSSSSSSS!!!!**

** HE SHOWED UP~~~!!!! **-dies- (Total ADHD moment.)

Do me a fave?

_Review,_

**Review,**

_**Review!!**_


	7. So Relentless

Well, I seem to be getting real behind in all of my writing. (-coughs-Thanks a lot Alorix.. You better appreciate the fact that I love you.)

I'm sorry that I keep on saying that I'll try to have these out weekly and then double the time.

-laughs nervously-

Forgive me? But HEY! I think this is the longest chapter I've done for this story...

Started March 17th.

Completed March 23rd.

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Dejection.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 7**

**So Relentless**

**

* * *

**

For the past few weeks, Grimmjow had been put into a state of meditation, almost. Ever since he'd met Ichigo, he had found a specific sense of attraction toward the man. Now, this wasn't unusual, seeing as how this was how he usually got his fuck buddies and one night stands. But you see, the minute Grimmjow had laid eyes on Ichigo, he'd known that he wasn't the usual passerby.

No, Ichigo was very much different from everyone else.

He couldn't put his finger on it if someone had dared to ask, but... he just found this deep, unmoving attraction. It wasn't just an attraction to his looks, or body. It was an attraction to Ichigo as a whole. Yes, he had a nice body. Yes, he had a handsome face. But even more than that, he was attracted to Ichigo's personality.

At first, this revelation had scared the shit out of Grimmjow back when he ran into the younger college student at the restaurant.

How could he be attracted to someone's personality? To someone he had only recently met?

How could he be so attached to someone who had only _just _walked into his life?

Grimmjow wasn't sure. In fact, he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to find the answers to these questions. But, in the beginning, while he was looking for those answers, he became comfortable with the questions themselves. He no longer cared about the whys or the hows. It just simply w_as. _Nothing more, nothing less.

When really stopping to observe Ichigo during their outing to the club, Grimmjow had turned everything over very carefully in his head, attempting desperately to figure out exactly what it was about the younger man that drew him in. And then he stopped, remembering the very first day that he had met the red head. He hadn't been afraid to challenge him. He stood for what he believed in. Ichigo had a fire in his eyes that spoke of relentless passion and perseverance.

And Grimmjow found that sexy.

It was at this point that he essentially just threw up his hands and said "fuck it". Why should he have to stop and wonder why he liked the way Ichigo is? So that night, as he watched Ichigo walk out of the club to call a taxi to get home, he pondered ways to get Ichigo to go out with him. Honestly, this really wasn't his forte, though. Usually, he just tempted the other party with sex (which is really all he wanted them for), and then they were hooked. But he got the distinct feeling that Ichigo would either be offended or not notice the signs.

Plus, he didn't want Ichigo for the sex... (_though_, he couldn't help but think, _the sex would definitely be nice_). He liked Ichigo for who he was (as cheesy as that sounded) and not just his body. He didn't want to give the kid the wrong idea.

After a good half hour of thinking over the matter (what? He didn't want to over-complicate things), he just gave up. Why should he have to think up a really special way? He'd just be himself and ask. And the very next day, that's what he did.

He slipped on his heavy black jacket, walked out into the soft, late-November snow, marched his way up to the restaurant that he knew Ichigo was currently working at, and stepped in. The second he had stepped into the warm, heated establishment, his eyes had caught a flash of orange, just a few short yards away from himself. Ignoring the squawk that his sister had emitted from nearly being squished by the door, he crossed the distance between him and Ichigo and halted in front of him.

Then, pausing for a moment to watch the younger man as he thought over what he was going to say (curse his second thoughts!), his mouth moved of its own accord and asked, "Would you like to go on a date with me, Ichi?" It wasn't exactly what he was going for, but it _did _get the point across, so he added his trademark smirk and waited for the inevitable 'yes'.

Except it never came.

What, you ask, did Ichigo do? Well, of course he gaped for a moment, staring at Grimmjow, as he attempted to process the question and put it through the bullshit filter to check and make sure he wasn't just fucking around with him. When the question came out of the filter unscathed, however, the red head seemed to choke slightly before his eyes widened in shocked astonishment. Grimmjow watched him with a flicker of amusement, taking the man's frozen silence as a chance to really stop and look at him.

Eyes scanning over Ichigo's body, his smirk widened when he saw the black slacks, shiny black shoes, white shirt with a loosened black tie, topped off by a dark gray half-apron wrapped around the man's slim waist. When he saw the man's hips shift, he abruptly snapped his line of sight back up to Ichigo's face, only to find that he was no longer gaping-just staring with astonishment. There was a moment of silence, and then the younger man did something that neither Grimmjow or Nel expected.

He closed his eyes, blew out a sigh, and then opened them once more. Ichigo muttered something under his breath and then walked around Grimmjow, opened the door calmly, and walked out, letting it swing shut behind him.

Just like that.

It was Grimmjow's turn to stare in astonishment, watching as the door came to a rest in its frame before he turned to his sister, her bright green eyes watching him as a grin lit up her face. When they locked eyes, her grin grew even wider, and she paused a moment before saying in a dreamy sense, "I knew this was going to happen."

Grimmjow gave her a weird look, eyes darting quickly to the door and back, before he asked, "You knew he was going to walk away without a word?" She giggled in response, shaking her head slightly with mirth. "No," she said, eyes never leaving his electric blue orbs, "I knew you were going to ask. I just didn't know how soon... and how he would react." Her eyes trailed mischievously over to the large wooden door that Ichigo had just exited from.

"Though I suppose we have our answer."

**

* * *

**

Ichigo stared at the wall of his living room, eyes blank and barely even registering the plaster that it was locked onto. He was stumped.

Honest-to-God _stumped._

The red head had no idea that something like this would happen. Hell, how should he have known? He was too busy thinking about other matters-about how he could feel the fucker's pain! Why the hell did he have to pull _this _kind of shit on him?

His eyes shifted into a glare, boring into the bland plaster of the wall. He had _enough _to deal with right now. Ichigo had to worry about work, classes... keeping his friends in the dark about an absolutely insane connection to a completely stupid _jack-ass._

He groaned, throwing his head back and letting it loll on the back of the couch, shifting his sight to the cieling. Why did this kind of shit have to happen to him? Why did things like this always have to pop up in his life to over-complicate things?

Why couldn't he just be normal?

Ichigo snorted to himself, heaving himself off of the couch and padding his way to the kitchen. Wasn't that the question of the century? He didn't know if that question had an answer or not, anyway. Either way, though, he was weird (quite possibly cursed, he had recently come to think), and there was no changing that.

He reached into the fridge and pulled out a coke, popping it open and sipping on it without any thought. So he was connected to Grimmjow in a weird, probably supernatural sort of way, and the damned fucktard decided to ask him out. On a date.

Setting his drink down on the counter, he leaned on it, letting his head fall forward and hang. He had only just gotten over the fact that he was stuck with one of the weirdest connections possibly known to mankind to a conceited punk. _Now, _he needed to get over the fact that said conceited punk apparently wished to date him.

Like hell he would.

He'd always stayed away from human contact as a measure to protect himself. Now that he had figured out that there was more to his 'problem' than he thought, he was even more determined to stay away from people around him-more specifically, Grimmjow himself. He wasn't about to let this weird turn of events uproot his resolve. He wasn't going to let anyone in-especially not Grimmjow.

So he would ignore him.

_After all, he has to give up sometime, right?_

**

* * *

**

The next week and a half was pure _agony _for Ichigo. Not only did he seem to run into Grimmjow at least twice a day, but the man _wasn't giving up._

He knew that the man would persist a bit, but... This was just ridiculous!

The very next day after the whole fiasco, Ichigo had returned to work, diligently keeping the entire matter locked in a box inside his head, wrapped with mass amounts of masking tape and topped with a ribbon. Of course, things abruptly changed when he spied that oh-so-familiar head of hair sitting at one of the tables that he was assigned to wait on-and out popped the whole dilemma, masking tape tossed carelessly aside, ribbon ripped to shreds.

Any guesses as to his first thought?

_Fuuuuuuck._

He shook himself from the abrupt feeling of his stomach dropping unpleasantly and forced his feet to move, one in front of the other as he trudged to the employee room to clock in and get his uniform on. After a few brief moments of toying with the idea of just quitting his job altogether (because he had the distinct feeling that Grimmjow knowing where he worked did not bode well-now or ever), he steeled himself and walked out the door, pasting a fake smile (obviously strained) on his face and stepping up to the table, studiously avoiding the electric-blue eyes.

"What would you like?" The question slipped out, more of a habit (that had formed _very_ quickly) than anything. Without skipping a beat, the deep, sensuous voice replied, "Actually, yes, you would be nice."

He just _knew _the bastard was grinning. He could hear it in his _voice._ Gritting his teeth, Ichigo tried to calm himself (and failed), before saying, "I'm sorry, sir. But I'll have to ask that you actually order something from off of the menu." There was a rumbling chuckle in response, a sound that sent a pleasant shiver down his spine, and he stiffened in reply, eyes slowly trailing up to Grimmjow's face. Catching the smirk painting his lips, Ichigo promptly scowled, shifting his hips and leaning into a bit more of an aggressive stance without even realizing.

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at the subtle display of hostility, shrugging slightly before pointing at the menu and saying, "Then I'll just have this." He deliberately brushed his hand against Ichigo's when he handed the menu back, smirk widening when he noticed the red head's shudder. Without any prompting, Ichigo spun on his heel and stomped off, grumpily tossing the menu aside and posting the slip on the board for the chefs.

This wasn't the only time that such a thing had happened.

It happened daily for nearly two weeks-ever since That Day. (That Day being the day that his brain short circuited when Mr. Bluenette decided to toss his sanity aside by asking the question that could very well ruin his progress _toward _sanity.) Every day, Grimmjow would be sitting in the exact same seat, waiting for Ichigo to come in so that he could harass the poor man and convince him to start dating him.

It was just... ridiculous! There was simply no other way to explain it. The man was relentless, never pausing or stopping in his pursuit. Day by day, the same head of hair would appear in his vision. The restaurant was no longer 'the place that gave him his paycheck'-it had changed to 'the place where he's guaranteed to be cornered' for an indefinite amount of time.

And it was starting to get tiring.

Not only that, but he would also see Grimmjow around the campus sometimes. Even though he was on the Northern side while the blue-haired man was on the Southern side, he would inevitably pass by him every day or two. Of course, Grimmjow would use this 'purely coincidental chance' to his advantage and ask him out on a date again.

At first, Ichigo had resolved to ignoring the man, but it was becoming increasingly more complicated. Grimmjow would corner him physically, making sure that he was barricaded and demanded an answer. The first couple of times, Ichigo had used his speed and slick maneuvering in order to slide past him without an answer, but it was getting to the point to where he would be required to answer before he could continue with his day.

So from that point on, Ichigo had started rejecting Grimmjow.

It worked for about a day or two. In fact, the first time that he had glared Grimmjow in his blue eyes (and had to keep himself from saying what the man oh-so-desperately wanted to hear) and said, "no", he had looked blatantly shocked. Then, it seemed to form into a genuine hurt. It froze him to the spot, wondering what he should say after rejecting such a thing. Not that he actually believed the man's dramatics.

Honestly.

And it was exactly ten days after the original questioning back in the restaurant that Ichigo sat alone in his apartment, contemplating over what should be done with the entire issue. Was he supposed to just get used to the relentless pursuit of the blue haired man? Because it was starting to seem that way. He groaned, twisting his body so that he lay on the couch on his side, arm hanging off of the edge and fingers brushing against the carpet.

What should be done?

He found his thoughts abruptly cut off when his phone started blaring from his pocket, vibrating against his ass.

Blinking slightly, he fished the phone from his pocket and stared at the screen, the words _'unknown number' _flashing on the screen repeatedly. He bit his lip for a moment before shrugging and flipping it open, answering with a quick, "hello?"

The voice on the other side was a stark one of feminine quality, clearly someone he didn't know. "Yes, is this Kurosaki Ichigo?" The man in question blinked before cautiously replying, "...Yes..."

Ichigo stared up at the ceiling, fervently wishing and hoping that it wasn't bad news and that his day had even the slightest chance of getting better. _Please..._

He could tell the woman on the line smiled, the pleasure filtering through as she said, "My name is Cirucci and I am calling on behalf of International Imports. I am to inform you that your car from Karakura has arrived and that you can come pick it up any time you like."

Without any conscious thought, his lips were already stretched in a bright grin. _Finally..._

"Thank you very much. I'll try to be down there sometime today, then."

With a few more exchanged words and pleasant farewells, he hung up the phone and stood from where he sat, stretching and popping a few kinks out of his back. Letting his arms settle back at his sides, he glanced around slightly, the foolish grin still carved upon his lips. Finally, he would have his car back! No more traversing the city on a little mountain bike!

_Though... _he mused to himself, glancing down at his jean-clad legs and rubbing a hand across one of his thighs. _It did give me a good workout._

The red head shrugged to himself once more before grabbing his keys off of the coffee table and shoving him in his pocket, only to pause in thought. He didn't have a ride. How the hell was he supposed to get up there? The damned drop-off point was halfway across town... it would take him over an hour to get there by bike... not like it would really be all that hard at this point, but...

He stopped and shook his head, pulling out his phone with the resolve to call Tatsuki.

_Maybe she'll have the time to drop me off..._

**

* * *

**

Brown eyes glared at the passing scenery, almost wishing that everything that passed within their sight would spontaneously combust or implode. It would take his mind off of things.

Like the fact that the one who was taking him to get his car, wasn't Tatsuki, but someone totally different-of the male sex, much taller, much more arrogant.

Ten dollars to whoever guesses correctly.

_God-_Damnit! He raged internally, condemning poor passersby on the sidewalk to hell and back, only so that he could smack them back down to relieve the torrent of irritation pulsing through his veins. His eyes strayed over to the driver for a moment, only having the time to catch the sight of stark blue hair before they shot angrily back to the window. He had to will himself to stay calm. To stay in his seat and _not _throttle the driver.

"So, Ichi..." The sultry voice seemed to be almost magnified, blocking out all sense of reality that was around it and drawing attention to only the sound and its owner.

_Fuck. This. Shit._ His resolve to keep from killing the driver was running ever thinner, only a hairs breadth away from snapping. Pretty soon, he would be over the middle console, shaking the arrogant asshole senseless and possibly smashing his head against the steering wheel.

Though, the only thing that was really keeping him from doing so was the fact that there would only be a slim chance of his survival. And Nel's. (Though, he was pretty sure that she was in on the whole mess.)

Almost forgetting that Grimmjow had spoken, Ichigo twitched slightly before grounding out, "Fuck. Off. And. Shut. The hell. _Up._" He didn't have to turn and look at the man to know that he had smirked. He could _feel _it from the way the hairs on his neck stood on end. He did hear Nel giggle in the backseat, though.

_Damnit._

Turning his eyes to the rapidly dimming sky, he gave a silent question to the gods above. _Why the hell do you feel the need to put me through this shit? Why? Who did I kill in my past life? Because, honestly, it must have been someone of at _least _the Pope's standing._

"...answer me."

Ichigo blinked before scowling, eyes unwillingly catching Grimmjow's reflection in the glass. What had he just said..? He shook his head minutely, blinking to focus on what was on the other side of the glass. Who cared? Certainly not him.

Besides, it was likely just another something-or-other about the whole 'dating' ordeal.

Without Ichigo asking, Grimmjow repeated what he said. "Why won't you just go on a date with me? One of these days you're going to end up having to answer me."

One point to Ichigo!

For the rest of the ride, Ichigo continued to ignore his relentless pursuer, glaring outside of the glass and fervently hoping that the Import building would come into view soon. _Really _soon. He twitched when Nel began to support Grimmjow from the backseat, insisting that he 'should at least go on one date to see if they are compatible'.

_Compatible my _ass.

The second that they pulled into the parking lot, Ichigo unlocked his door, forcing Grimmjow to come to a quick stop in order to let Ichigo out without hurting himself. Hurriedly unbuckling the seat-belt, he threw the door open and almost ran for the front doors. Back in the car, Nel watched the man go with a smirk, quickly settling into a soft smile when she turned back to her step-brother.

Grimmjow watched the red head dart for the glass doors with a small frown on his face, a bit of a melancholy feeling settling on him. He knew that it would be hard and take a long time to get Ichigo to agree, but... He couldn't help but feel a little disheartened every time he was rejected.

_No, _he shook his head, determined to shake off his funk along with it. _I knew it was going to be like this... I'm not gonna give up._

The green haired young woman couldn't help but widen her grin as she saw the frown slowly form into the man's trademark smirk. Poor Ichigo had no chance at running, now. Still smiling, she got out of the car and went the long way around the car, shutting the door that Ichigo had left open and stopping in front of the driver's door. She yanked it open, startling her blue haired brother and earning his gaze. She gave him her own smirk before reaching in and unbuckling him and then pulling him out of the seat.

As he stumbled on his feet with a squawk, Grimmjow sent an incredulous look back to Nel, only to find that she had made herself comfortable in the seat he had been in only seconds before. He blinked as she gave a massive, toothy grin, shutting the car door and buckling herself up before clicking the button to roll down the windows. They had a small staring match for a moment before she said in a clearly theatrical lilt of her voice, "Oh my. It seems that I have decided to go home and have unknowingly left my brother behind." With no more words, she gave him a quick wink before twisting in the seat to look over her shoulder and backed up, turned the car around, and left.

Grimmjow could only blink after her in a stunned silence before he shook his head with a quiet chuckle. "It seems that I owe her one," he muttered, not realizing that his count was actually up to two.

Hands in his pockets, he strut up to the building and slipped inside the doors, waiting patiently by the entrance as he watched Ichigo fill out some forms. This continued for quite a few minutes until the red head looked up and passed the small packet over to the clerk with a small smile, exchanging a few words with her before the woman nodded and turned on her heel, disappearing into a clean white door.

He strode closer to the red head, watching with slight interest when his back seemed to tense when he registered the sound of his footsteps. He kept quiet, merely standing beside his infatuation before Ichigo huffed out an irritated sigh and muttered a quick, "_What?_"

He couldn't really help the smirk that stretched across his lips (then again, when _could _he?). He paused before replying, "Nel decided to leave without me. I need a ride." He glanced around at the desk, noting that each stack of papers seemed to be prim and precise. Apparently the clerk had a bit of a tidy standard. Grimmjow almost laughed out loud when Ichigo turned to him with a scowl and said, "What? Why the hell should I have to take you _anywhere?_"

Turning back to the smaller man, Grimmjow casually shrugged, shoulders falling in a slow, haphazard way. "Oh, I dunno... maybe because I was decent enough to bring you _here_." When the scowl deepened, the blue haired man knew that he had won. From all of his time observing Ichigo, he knew that he disliked the idea of owing somebody, and that he had a rather strong sense of morals.

Before Ichigo could make the smart remark that was on the back of his tongue, the clerk pushed back through the door, a cheery smile present on her face. She dropped a key ring with two keys on the desk and pushed them to Ichigo and then leaned forward and rifled through the papers on her clipboard. She quickly scribbled on one of the sheets and then ripped along the perforated lines, handing the slip to Ichigo and then pointing to the left.

"Just hand that slip to the guy at the gates at this garage over here, and he'll let you in and lead you to your car." She tilted her head, purple curls bobbing with the motion. Ichigo returned a strained smile of his own before snatching the key ring up. "Thanks." He quickly pivoted and exited the building and made his way in the direction she indicated, diligently ignoring the sound of Grimmjow padding along behind him.

Quickly handing the slip off to the man standing at the small stationed area, he followed along behind him as he led him deeper into the garage, almost bouncing on his feet. He _really _loved his car. He couldn't help that he was so excited to see it-it had been months after all.

Behind him, Grimmjow watched in amusement, easily being able to read the eager excitement that the shorter man was immersed in. He chuckled quietly, almost surprised when Ichigo didn't seem to hear him. They halted behind a sleek, metallic gray car (a new BMW M3 Coupe, actually. _Not bad at all, _Grimmjow thought to himself) before Ichigo shook the man's hand distractedly and then practically skipped over to the driver's door. Thrusting the key in the lock and nimbly twisting it, he was in the car in mere seconds. Grimmjow stood behind the car, watching as it started up and began to hum with a raised eyebrow. It was obvious how much Ichigo adored the car.

He was snapped from his thoughts when the window was rolled down and Ichigo aimed a small frown at him and asked, "Well? Are you gonna get in?"

The familiar smirk quickly took over his features as he made long strides over to the passenger side, slipping into the car with a sleek grace. Before long, they were out on the open road, making their way back to their apartments on the other side of the city. Ichigo seemed to remember how irritated he was with the blue haired man halfway through the ride, because he started darting suspicious glances his way. It was almost just as quickly, however, that he forgot and returned back to his overjoyed thoughts at having his car back.

When they pulled to a stop in front of Grimmjow's apartment, the blue haired man made no move to get out. Brown eyes glanced over in confusion as he turned in his seat. He allowed a smirk to seep onto his lips as he lecherously said, "So, how about that date?" Almost immediately, anger flooded the depths of Ichigo's eyes as he spat, "Holy _fuck, _Grimmjow! Are you _ever _going to give up?"

The blue haired man shrugged and replied, "Nope." Without missing a beat, Ichigo said, "_Fine! _I'll _go! _Just leave me the hell _alone!_"

Grimmjow blinked. The reply had definitely thrown him for quite the loop. He had actually expected at least another week or so before he gave in. Nevertheless, it was a positive development.

As the blue haired man was basking in the moment of glory, Ichigo stared at the other man in shock. He hadn't meant to say that. Honestly. It was something of an automatic response. Forced from his tail-chasing thoughts, he became aware of a victory-smirking Grimmjow shutting the car door and making his way into his apartment building, tossing an arrogant, "I'll call you with the details, then," over his shoulder.

And as the glass doors shut behind the man's back, Ichigo let his head fall onto the steering wheel, suddenly feeling it was too heavy to support.

_Fuuuuck._

**-Chapter End-**

I'm really surprised I was able to write this chapter so quickly. It was actually a pretty fun chapter to write. I don't do many chapters based on Grimmjow's point of view, so the beginning was really interesting to write. I think I got my point across, though-this isn't just a spontaneous, **BAM!, **hit you in the face kinda thing-he actually thought about it ever since the time he and Nel ran into Ichigo outside of the restaurant. _Then, _he spontaneously decided to hit Ichigo out of nowhere.

Poor Ichigo. XD

I thought Ichigo's reaction was pretty damned funny, too. That was just _waaaay _too fun to write. It just seems like what he would do. First be confused, then get away so he could stop and _think, _and then get angry. _Theeeen, _when he's all annoyed and all that shit, gets pissed off and give in just to get him off his back. (Of course, with quite a few arguments and fights before he actually _does _give in. X3)

I rather liked the image I put in about halfway, too... about locking it in a box in his mind with masking tape and a ribbon. It just seemed to fit, I must say.

Oh lord, this was an awesome chapter. I'm proud of the way it turned out. But my thoughts don't matter as much as y'all's. So..?

...Hahaha. "Bullshit filter".

What do ya think?

_Review,_

**Review,**

_**Review!**_


	8. So Surprising

Oh, lord. I haven't had any time to get started on this. It makes me massively sad. Not only do I have a bunch of tests coming up, but I also have a couple of projects, constant homework, _and _recently got a job. Chances are that updates are going to stay at biweekly or be a little irregular. Sorry for that.

(Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than the rest, too.)

Started April 10th.

Completed April 11th.

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Anguish.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 8**

**So Surprising**

**

* * *

**

Finding himself in Grimmjow's car once more, Ichigo had three questions in mind.

One: Where in the _hell _were they going?

This was a really curious question. Grimmjow had called him a few days before and said that he was going to pick him up on the next day he was off. So that Saturday, Ichigo found himself getting up early in the morning to take a shower and get dressed. Now, normally, this would actually be a routine for the red head. He didn't really sleep in all that much, so getting up early was a little bit of an inbred habit. However, when he was getting up at 6am (about 3 hours earlier than he would usually get up), things began to get a little sketchy. When they finally got in the car and got on the road, they had lulled into a silence. This too, would be normal... except for the fact that they had been on the road for an hour and, according to Grimmjow, were only "about halfway there."

Ichigo had asked repeatedly where they were going, but upon the constant reticence that the blue-haired man was giving him, he had simply given up and resigned to scowling out the window.

Two: What the fuck was in that huge bag?

Sitting on the back seat was a large black duffel bag, who-knows-what items straining at the material and forcing it out at odd bulges here and there. When Ichigo had asked Grimmjow about the (rather suspicious) bag, the man had simply given him that grin and shook his head before taking off.

Three: Why the hell did Grimmjow want to go on a date with him in the first place?

This was the big question--the winner. He had barely even known the man for 3 months. And during those months, the two had only lightly spoken. When they had actually gotten into a decent conversation, they ended up nearly biting each other's heads off with their bickering and constant fighting.

Now, minimal time since meeting plus constant disagreements didn't usually add up to an appealing relationship. Granted, Ichigo wasn't trying to major in math or anything of the sort (actually, he was quite terrible at math), but he just found the equation to be a bit... unbalanced.

So now, staring out the window, Ichigo contemplated over Grimmjow's intentions. From what he heard, the man was kind of a man-whore. No insult intended upon him, but... he really just knew no other word that defined the man's womanizing personality. (Though, he admitted, he was usually a bit blunt, so...)

He had already thought upon the possibility of Grimmjow using him as a good fuck. He had only entertained the idea for a few seconds before trashing it. While it did seem likely and entirely possible with the blue haired man's personality, there was little reason to use _him. _Sure, he looked good (and yes, he knew it... just never flaunted it), but with their personality conflictions, surely he would be able to find someone as equally handsome (or beautiful) and bed them much easier.

So that ruled out the whole man-whore womanizing (or would it be considered 'manizing' in this case?) idea.

To be perfectly honest, though, Ichigo really didn't know what other options there could be. He just couldn't tell what the older man was thinking. After all, it was impossible for him to be genuinely interested in Ichigo.

Right?

Grimmjow glanced over at the quiet red head with a bit of a frown. He knew that Ichigo was just being stubborn because he was upset (for both losing their unsaid 'don't give in' match and for not knowing where the hell they were going and what the fuck they were doing), but at this rate, the two of them were going to be genuinely unable to enjoy their date.

Blowing out a quiet sigh, he shifted slightly in his seat and then said, "Don't worry, Ichi. You're going to like where we're going for our date. I promise." By the end of his statement, his lips had curled into a knowing smirk, and his eyes caught the twitching brown ones with amusement.

"It's. Not. A. Date." Ichigo enunciated each word deliberately, glaring the driver down with a hint of a scowl.

He made a tut-tut sound with a dramatized shake of his head and said, "Ah, but Ichigo. You agreed to a 'date', and so a date it is." The smirk was firmly upon his lips once more.

Ichigo's scowl did not falter, and his glare continued to burn into the man. Was this fucker _serious? _He couldn't consider this a _date_. They didn't even know each other all that well. The only thing that he knew about the guy was that he was a conceited, pompous asshole that seemed to have a new girlfriend every other day (except for lately).

As if reading his thoughts, Grimmjow shook his head slightly and allowed his smirk to tone down into something of a light smile--but more like a simple lip quirk. "Alright, look. We don't really know much about each other. But now's a great time to find out, right?" He raised an eyebrow as he darted a quick glance to his passenger before returning his gaze to the road. There was a silence that followed his question, filled only by the light hum that a car makes when driving down the freeway.

Giving a slight sneer, Ichigo maintained silence for a moment before blowing out a harsh sigh, features sliding into something more resigned. Turning his eyes back onto the bland landscape stretching outside of his window, he asked, "So what do you want to know then?"

Grimmjow blinked, again thrown off by how quickly Ichigo had given in. He contemplated the answer before saying, "I don't know..." He tilted his head slightly before saying, "How about why you've decided to become a doctor?"

If the red head were to be perfectly honest with himself, he would admit to being rather surprised by this. Not only was the word 'doctor' said in a rather amicable way, but he also seemed to be rather thoughtful and, oddly and unbelievably enough, genuinely curious about his answer. Snapping himself from his thoughts forcefully, Ichigo knit his eyebrows together. He didn't really know how to answer that. Well, he did, but he was rather reluctant to divulge something so personal. The best thing he could really say was...

"My dad's a doctor. For as long as I can remember, I've seen a lot of sick people walk into our clinic and then walk back out, already looking a bit better. It's... a nice feeling.." He admitted the last part with a softer voice, a bit embarrassed with how childish or cheesy it sounded. Ignoring Grimmjow (for he was _surely _laughing at him), he continued. "I really respect the profession and think it's a very worthwhile cause. And the world could always use more doctors."

But the blue haired man wasn't laughing. In fact, Grimmjow nodded, honestly understanding the reasoning. Not only that, but it seemed to be true. When they had the argument over doctors (all those months ago when they had first met), Ichigo honestly seemed to have a burning passion for the whole idea. An honest respect. Grimmjow chuckled softly to himself.

_It really fits him_, he thought, not daring to look over to his companion for the (slight) fear of him realizing that he was amused by the idea.

Ichigo saw the way Grimmjow smiled, automatically assuming that it was mocking. After a second of thought, however, he realized that it wasn't mocking, just light-hearted amusement and acknowledgement.

_Huh... maybe he isn't all _that _bad..._

They lapsed into silence once more, this time more comfortable. Grimmjow maneuvered the car off of the freeway and onto a smaller highway, still seeming to be rather far from any sort of civilization. Eyes narrowing in confusion, Ichigo eyed the stretching fields surrounding the road before darting a glance in the driver's direction. Staring at the dashboard for a few minutes, Ichigo resisted the urge to ask again.

_Where the _fuck _are we going..?_

Before he had the chance to give into his impulses, Grimmjow interrupted him and said, "We should be there in a little less than half an hour." Blowing out a sigh once more (he'd been doing that a little too often lately), Ichigo cranked back his chair, making it lean back a few degrees. As he stared out the front windshield for a few moments, Ichigo didn't realize his lips were moving of their own accord until he had finished speaking.

"So what exactly are you aiming to be?"

Grimmjow looked a bit surprised at the question, the car wavering slightly on the road. Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. Was it really so hard to believe that he was a little curious on the subject?

...Well... he knew he wasn't the most sociable guy... nor the most approachable... but still!

The blue haired man shook his head for a moment, seeming to rid himself of thoughts before he cleared his throat. "Well," he started, "I'm in the business section... that is, Las Noches." Ichigo nodded, already knowing this from what Nel had told him in their previous conversation.

Grimmjow didn't go any further, and Ichigo began to get a little irritated, so he prompted, "So..?" The blue haired man aimed an almost innocent look back at him and said, "So... what?" Ichigo twitched at the coy display. Seriously, he was going to vault across the middle console one of these days...

Seeing the murderous look that flashed across the red head's face, he shook his head with a chuckle. "I want to own my own restaurant." Ichigo blinked at his response. He was a little bit surprised that Grimmjow had admitted to something like that. Considering his character, it seemed... _out _of character. Ignoring the look of curiosity slowly building upon his passengers face, he said, "I also want to do a bit of the cooking. I'm taking cooking classes and minoring in the culinary arts."

Ichigo didn't know what to say. He'd always thought of the man as a directionless fool that merely thought of nothing but sex and what was happening _right then. _But, from what it sounded...

"That's why I've been saving up my own money. I do random odd jobs here and there... usually referred to me by either Szayel or Ulquiorra." Grimmjow shrugged and continued. "I also save up the random amounts of money that my mother sends me... though I had to ask for a bit more to get this car..." He patted the steering wheel in an almost loving fashion, making Ichigo roll his eyes in a playful manner.

Sensing that he was going to be charting ferocious waters, Ichigo asked, "And your father..?"

Almost immediately, Grimmjow's expression darkened. "I could care less about that fucker." Ichigo was stunned with the tone of voice that his companion used when speaking of his parent. Obviously they weren't on good terms. Ichigo determined that it was wiser to leave the subject alone and lapsed into silence. Therefore, he was rather surprised when Grimmjow decided to continue.

"To be perfectly truthful, he isn't my Dad. He's Nel's. You know--step-sister and all that shit." Once more focusing his full attention on the man, Ichigo nodded.

"I didn't like him since the moment I met him. I knew that I wouldn't like him and that we wouldn't get along. Point blank." Grimmjow paused for a moment as they turned onto a highway that was a bit more populated. "Anyways. He didn't treat Nel all that nicely. He was constantly yelling at her, and, when he and my mother got married, he began to treat me the same way... the fucker's a doctor." He aimed a pointed look Ichigo's way, who quickly knit the pieces together, beginning to form the understanding of the enigma called Grimmjow.

"You know... I remember waking up one night as a kid... the doorbell had rung and it was really late, so, needless to say, it was weird." He shook his head slightly, melancholic tone taking form as he said, "It was a patient. Desperately looking for a doctor and seriously ill. I remember thinking that he looked like he was on Death's doorstep." The melancholy changed to something more menacing, a horrible sneer forming on his lips and hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. "And that _fucker, _that _bastard_, barely gave them a glance and turned them away. And you know what? He fucking _laughed _when he shut the door on their faces. Said it was funny how someone could be so desperate as to walk a mile or two in the fucking cold."

Tense silence filled the car then, Grimmjow trying to calm down and Ichigo processing his words. No wonder Grimmjow was the way he was with his dislike of doctors. In fact, it would be a little weird if he didn't have an aversion to doctors. He glanced over at Grimmjow, pleased to find that the man had calmed down. The blue haired man took a deep breath before blowing it out in a sigh and then turning to face his date. "Sorry. I probably got a little intense there..." Electric blue eyes watched him in an almost questioning fashion, widening slightly when Ichigo shook his head with a small smile and said, "No, it's fine. I can't say I blame you."

Ichigo seemed to deliberate over something before saying, "There's more to my reasoning of wanting to be a doctor, though." Grimmjow looked over, startled. Locking his intense blue eyes onto molten brown, he nodded for him to continue. Ichigo mirrored his action and nodded back before saying, "My mother is dead."

The car wavered once more, Grimmjow aiming a worried glance over at Ichigo. The orange haired man shook his head and continued. "She passed away when I was ten. Succumbed to the disease that had been ravaging her body for years..." His eyes were once more on the scenery outside, although he couldn't really see anything other than the memories playing through his head.

"It was inevitable. A disease that there was no cure for." His expression darkened before: "At least... until a year after she died." Grimmjow kept glancing at him every time that his driving would allow it, a bit worried for the young man. He was surely remembering many painful things... and the subject at hand was doubtlessly one that was hard to talk about.

Ichigo, however, was a bit surprised with himself. Talking about something so personal seemed to come so naturally when speaking to Grimmjow. There was just this vibe that the man gave off that made him really easy to talk to--despite his being socially inept and generally disliking the spreading of something so personal. Plus, he felt like the man deserved a little more for opening up to him. It was only an equal exchange. Nothing more, nothing less.

He blew out a small sigh and said, "My dad had no way to save her. The cure wasn't revealed until after she died and... Well, things were already rough at that point. While my dad had his regrets... I was crushed. I couldn't even ease her pain. I could only stand by and watch as she became a little more fragile as each day passed, until finally..." He trailed off, blinking from the assault of images from a time long past. "But... I just never want to experience something like that again. That helplessness. To watch life fade away as the days go by..." He turned his attention to Grimmjow, nothing but serious. "I want to do what I can to help. That's all."

Grimmjow held the eye-lock for only a moment before his eyes were back on the road, a pensive expression on his face. His features shifted, though, when he seemed to realize something, and then he was turning off the highway and onto a small road. Before long, they were turning into a parking lot and the car came to a halt. Switching off the engine, Grimmjow remained in his seat before he said almost cautiously, "It's a very noble cause." And then, he turned to the wide-eyed red head and said, "I think you would make a good doctor."

Before Ichigo was able to process the older man's words, Grimmjow was out of the car and already pulling the bulky bag out of the back, slamming the door. Ichigo belatedly followed him, eyes trained on the ground as he trailed along behind him. They entered a small lobby, heated to combat the cold that was raging outside.

Grimmjow spoke a few words to the person behind the desk, glancing back at Ichigo and finding himself amused. It was blatantly obvious what their date was consisting of at this point, but the red head was so lost in his thoughts that he still had no idea. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he grabbed Ichigo lightly by the arm and led him to another room.

Once the door was firmly shut behind them, Grimmjow started unpacking the bag, separating them into two piles. When he was finally finished, he picked one of the objects from Ichigo's pile and lightly shoved it into the man's chest, effectively snapping the man from his thoughts. Brown eyes blinked at him in confusion before they slid down to the object in his hands. From that point, his brows furrowed, earnest confusion clouding his thoughts. Then, he managed to look at the room around them before landing on the two separate piles.

Eyes widening in realization, brown snapped back onto blue, before an incredulous look took over his features. "You're taking me out for _paint-balling _as a date?"

Grimmjow's smirk from earlier that morning had returned and he began to shrug on his protective gear before shooting his younger companion a feral look. "Yeah. Is there a problem?" he asked, eyebrow raised in his characteristic arrogance.

Ichigo stared as the man finished strapping the last of his gear on before excitement coiled down his spine. _No. _There actually _wasn't _a problem. Quickly shrugging on his own gear, he took up the large paint-ball rifle and rested it against his shoulder, aiming a challenging smirk at the older man. Seeing the clear challenge that the red head was presenting, Grimmjow smirked back, making his way across the room and opening up the door that led to the outdoor battlefield.

"Let's play."

And indeed they did.

**-Chapter End-**

Alright. I'm going to say this right now.

_That _is my idea of the perfect date. A little bit of talking and a fuck-load of fun. Paintball. Ooooh, yes. (insert moan)

I would immediately know that he's the one if he takes me out for a couple of rounds of paintball for a date. I would be sold--hook, line, and sinker. But little Ichigo here is a little skeptical, so it takes a while before he loosens up in here. But.. You know, that's just the way our favorite little red head acts. XD

...I'm a little irritated that most of this chapter took place in the car, though. But, whatever. Oh, hey. Look! It isn't a cliffhanger for once!

So. We have more background on our characters, major progress on the relationship front, and more coming up.

Any thoughts?

_Review,_

**Review,**

_**Review!!**_


	9. So Enlightening

Okay. So… I got a job. That's the reason why the updates have been totally and ridiculously late. Sorry about that. But once summer starts up (…just 6 weeks away…) I should be updating a little bit faster—because I won't have to worry about school-work anymore. XD

Sorry. I know I said the 15th… and it's 2:40 on the 16th. I ended up doing like 5 hours overtime at work, so… yeah. –laughs tiredly-

So. Enough of my rambling that you guys doubtlessly just don't care about, and on with the story! ENJOY!

(Yay! This chapter's longer! Whoo! Oh. And has fanservice. BE HAPPY. ;D)

Started April 26th.

Completed May 1st.

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Sorrow.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 9**

**So Enlightening**

**

* * *

**

Sitting at home on a Saturday, just a half day after his so-called 'date' with Grimmjow, Ichigo found himself content. While he hadn't really thought that it would be all that much fun to hang out with the older man, he was pleasantly surprised. It had been fun. Very much so.

There was only one problem. While paintball had been a real blast, he hadn't really thought the whole thing through. It was something that he knew he enjoyed… but if given the chance to play with the blue haired man again, Ichigo was pretty sure that he wouldn't take it. Being with Grimmjow had allowed the red head to just let go and enjoy himself. However, in the process of letting go, he had forgotten a rather essential aspect of his life. How he had been able to forget such a life-dominating problem was beyond him.

More specifically, his strange bond to Grimmjow.

One could probably imagine how hard it was for Ichigo to shoot at the older man.

That aspect was _not fun._

In order to keep up his façade and draw little attention to his oddity, however, Ichigo had to force himself to ignore the anticipation of the erupting pain and never let himself hesitate. He did slip once, though.

Grimmjow had just rounded a corner of one of the large ground protrusions and caught him off guard, barely grazing the edge of his vest on the right side of his abdomen. From that point, instincts had taken over and he had whirled around, aiming a shot straight at Grimmjow's stomach.

The blue haired man had yelled a loud, "Fuck!" but found himself more than a little surprised (and confused) when the orange haired man had yelled out at the same time as himself. Of course, after realizing his mistake, the red head had quickly and easily brushed it off, proposing a start over and going to renew the game. When he had turned his back and made his way over to the manager, however, he had never noticed the analytical electric-blue gaze that followed along after him.

Ichigo sank deeper into the cushions of his couch, a pensive expression on his face. After their little heart-to-heart (as much as he despised calling it such, he could find no other name for it), Ichigo had began to have second thoughts on his decision.

Grimmjow was a nice person—just a little self-centered and egotistical.

…Okay, so more than just a _little._

Either way, he had a part in their connection. Granted, it was likely just a one way connection, but it was a connection nonetheless. There was a bond between them, no matter how much that part of him (that seemed to be continually growing smaller and smaller as the days passed by) wanted to deny. He had a part in this weird little twist on his life… and as he came to know the man better, he felt more and more like Grimmjow should know about the connection—had the right to.

Ichigo bit his lip, shifting a bit on the couch in order to avoid the bruises that had formed on his limbs. While paintballing was really fun, the day after was always absolutely miserable. He blew out a quick sigh and turned his unseeing gaze to the ceiling, thoughts once more on the riveting and all-consuming war of how to deal with the matter at hand.

On one hand, he was desperate to keep that aspect of himself a secret. He knew what kind of an effect it could have on people and how they would start treating him afterward. He didn't want to bare himself to the possibility of being tossed aside or being labeled as insane (again).

On the other hand, he felt this inexplicable draw to the blue haired narcissist. He got the feeling that he was doing the wrong thing by hiding it from the man. There was also the whole idea of Grimmjow having an attraction to him. Surely he wouldn't be ridiculed if the man was attracted to him…

He cut the thought off. Ichigo had already made that mistake the last time. He had assumed the exact same thing in the past and was crushed in turn. He didn't want to feel like that again. He didn't want to regret losing someone who he knew was going to become, or already was (though he wouldn't admit it), important to him.

But he also didn't want to regret hiding something so big from him…

Ichigo let out an abrupt yell and threw himself to his feet. "Why the hell am I tearing myself up over this bastard?" He asked himself, muttering under his breath. Just about that time, his cell phone started blaring. He stooped over and scooped the phone up, flipping it open and cradling it against his ear in one swift, graceful movement.

"Kurosaki," the voice on the line said.

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise, and he pulled the phone away for a second in confusion before putting it back up to his ear. Why the fuck was _he _calling?

"Ishida."

There was something of a snort on the other end of the line and then, "Nel and Rukia told me to tell you to 'get your ass over here or we're shoving a banana up your ass'." Ichigo blinked. _Ah. That explains it, _he thought. It wasn't until the entire sentence sunk in that he flushed, eyes going wide before a scowl crossed his face.

_Well, looks like Tatsuki let it slip where my preferences now lie…_

Just a few short days after his own personal revelation, he may have, _accidentally, _and oh-so-casually, let it slip that he happened to lean a little more to the masculine side of the scale of romance a few weeks back… Though, granted, he never really stopped to think about romance all that much—but either way, he still seemed to have more attraction to guys than girls. That was beside the point anyway. It was the _way _that he'd let it slip that was the cause for worry.

"_Grimmjow? What about him?" Brown eyes looked up from the paper that they had been scanning, the orange brows above them scrunching in confusion._

"_What do you mean, what about him? He's rather gorgeous for a male, don't you think?" The purple haired girl jerked her head in the direction of the older man who was obliviously carrying on a conversation with Szayel. Ichigo looked in his direction, eyes taking in his appearance and lingering on the back pockets of the man's jeans._

"_Yeah, I guess. I mean, he has a nice ass…"_

He had just said the first thing on his mind—which was the honest-to-God truth. Sadly.

Ichigo's flush was renewed full force at the memory of the Freudian slip. He barely managed to keep his voice in check. "Alright, then. Where are you?"

"Rukongai. We're just on campus. The girls thought it would be fun to hang around and ogle random passers-by." By the sounds of the statement, the 'girls' referred to mainly Tatsuki and Nel. Perhaps Rukia, too. Who knew?

He blew out a sigh, one of numerous that had come into existence ever since moving into his new apartment. There was only a slight contemplation (after all, it wasn't really something to contemplate—either he came or Tatsuki would kick his ass. Nel too, probably), before he muttered a quick, "Fine. I'll be there soon."

Snapping the phone shut, he scrubbed a hand through his hair, biting his lip in frustration. Why did his friends always have such bad timing? First it was when he had found out about his connection to Grimmjow, and now it was when he had been deciding whether he should tell him about it or not. It was starting to get ridiculous.

Ichigo groaned slightly before his shoulders slumped in resignation, again recalling the fact that _the girls knew_. Actually, the fact that he liked guys over girls wasn't all that unsettling to him… he just found himself a little weirded out that it took so long for him to figure it out. Honestly…

He shook his head, orange locks dipping slightly before standing on end once more, messy as they usually were. Now he had to go out and face the terrifying females.

_Might as well get it over with._

He stepped over to the table beside the front door and snatched up his keys, walking out and never bothering to look back.

**

* * *

**

Ichigo was pleasantly surprised to find that it was only a small group of his friends there. Neither Grimmjow nor Szayel were there. Keigo and Mizuiro seemed to be absent from the group, too. Ulquiorra was nowhere to be seen, either. Shrugging slightly to himself, Ichigo stepped up to the cozy little on-campus bench and immediately garnered the girl's attention. Tatsuki squinted her eyes slightly before aiming a devious smile to Rukia and Nel on either side of her, then a somewhat apologetic smile to Orihime across from them. She adapted a faux secretive voice and said, "Oooh. This one's gorgeous. I hate to tell ya, though. It's always the gorgeous ones that seem to go after cock."

Twitching slightly, Ichigo leveled a glare with her, forcing down the smile that wanted to erupt when the females burst into affectionate giggles and waved their hands placatingly. He shook his head slightly, maneuvering around the girls, ignoring the apologies they spewed at him ("Sorry, Ichigo.." A laugh. "We really don't care whether you like girls or guys.." A devious look. "Though it would be rather sexy for him to be with a guy, don't you think?" Another giggle. "Top or bottom?" From that point, Ichigo tore his hearing away from the playful women, determined not to know whether they thought he would be the dominant or the submissive. He preferred to stay ignorant, thank you).

Abruptly, Nel cut off the awkward topic and stared at him, eyes narrowing in confusion. "Hey, Itsugo…" She tilted her head in a childish fashion, green hair falling from behind her ear and into her face. "Where did you get that bruise? A fight?" She asked, indicating the greenish yellow bruise on the side of his jaw.

A fight, indeed. He'd forgotten about that particular bruise…

Wisely, he chose to brush it off, simply giving a shrug in reply. Seeing as how he said nothing, Nel blinked for a moment, eyes narrowing as if trying to catch a slip up from him. After a few tense seconds of a staring match, she too shrugged and turned back to the conversation with the girls. Nel silently noted how the others in the group seemed to subtly focus on the bruise and she hid a devious smile.

She couldn't help but feel that she knew _exactly _where it came from. Her and Grimmjow had held a brief conversation on a great first date for gay guys a few months back. _Ooh, _she knew alright.

Seating himself on the connected bench, Ichigo carelessly dropped his keys on top of the table. Ishida only barely glanced up from the book he was so immersed in before he was lost to the world once more. Chad gave a quick wave, a small smile on his lips, eyes still hidden beneath those too-long bangs of his. Ichigo smiled slightly in return, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

Chad and Ichigo glanced around the campus in silence, old habits coming to the forefront again. Back in high school, they never really attempted to take part in anything, merely preferring to sit back and watch. It was really interesting, actually. And you learned a surprising amount of things about people that you never would have noticed before.

There was little noise around them, only the singing of birds radiating across the campus and a few groups of laughing friends that would pass by at random times. It was probably during one of the core classes, so there weren't many students around. Ichigo started to nod off, lulled to the realm of sleep by the soft whispers of Nel, Rukia, Inoue and Tatsuki. There was the occasional sound of a page being turned and Ishida shifting beside him.

More than a couple of times, Ichigo's head nearly plummeted to the table, only to snap up mere milliseconds before hitting the hard metal. This was repeated a few times before he was snapped from his sleepy haze by a voice calling his name. He looked to the side, only to see Hisagi approaching. Brown eyes blinked slightly, desperately attempting to get the fog out of his vision. He rubbed at his eyes briefly, hiding a yawn behind a hand. He hadn't been getting much sleep ever since he'd found out about his connection to Grimmjow. And that had been…what? Nearly a month ago?

He allowed a small smile to come to his lips, a bit confused when Hisagi abruptly stopped a few feet short of him. What was wrong? Hisagi stared at him for a moment before stepping forward almost cautiously, stopping just in front of him before saying, "…Are you alright?"

Ichigo tilted his head curiously. Why was he asking such a question? He slowly nodded, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "…Yeah?"

Hisagi shook the odd feeling off and pushed it away. It was only natural for him to be worried. Ever since he'd met Ichigo, he had never seen the man smile. He was always scowling or frowning… and then when there were those rare days where he seemed to be in a good mood, Ichigo would _smirk._

Not _smile._

_Smirk._

He shook his head slightly before saying, "Well, I was supposed to tell you that you don't have to come into work tonight. Ukitake tried to call you to inform you, but it kept on going straight to voicemail."

Ichigo paused before reaching into his pocket, pulling out his phone. Sure enough, the little machine was dead, out of batteries. When was the last time he'd charged the damned thing, anyway…? Ichigo stared at the phone in contemplation for a bit before remembering that he was around people. People that might want a reply.

He cleared his throat slightly, scratching at a cheek nervously as he said, "Oh, well… thanks for that." Hisagi abruptly sighed in relief. Ichigo seemed to be back to normal again. His normal, awkward, people-ignorant self.

The momentary silence was interrupted by a quiet _poof _as Ishida closed his book, a thoughtful look on his face. Ichigo watched him for a moment before he asked, "Good book?" Ishida blinked and then turned his attention to his orange-haired companion, as if just realizing that he was there. Finally, he nodded, pensive look back on his features. "Yes, it's very interesting."

He tapped a finger to the cover, fingertip covering the first 'r' in _Archaic Circumstances. _"When I first saw this book, I thought it would mainly have to do with Roman superstitions… supernatural and older crap like that. But I was really surprised to find that it spoke about more philosophical and ancient ideas of ties."

A tingle crawled up Ichigo's spine at Ishida's words, a sense of urgency and anticipation assaulting him almost out of nowhere. He stiffened at the onslaught, fingers twitching slightly. A question pounded at the back of his mind, begging to be brought to light. So he asked it.

"What kinds of ties?"

Hisagi raised an eyebrow at Ichigo's strange reaction, having noticed the subtle shudder that had worked up the man's frame, and frowned a bit. The girls and Chad turned their attention to the conversation, too, curious with the way Ichigo was acting. He never was interested in stuff like that…

Ishida didn't seem to mind the odd change in persona, however, and puffed up slightly, thinking back to some of the texts that he'd read.

"Well, there were lots of things that it talked about. There were a few things like… Incubus and succubus. It talked about how they worked and all of that…" He trailed off, racking his mind for more. Ichigo's brow furrowed. While his mind seemed to think that it was a fruitless venture, his body and spirit seemed to think otherwise. He was still poised on the edge of his seat, as if waiting for the magic words to be said.

There was a pause from Ishida before he said, "There was also something that really caught my attention. Astrological twins."

It felt almost as if someone had poured hot lava all over him, a strange heat seeping into his skin and spreading across his body. Ichigo shifted slightly, desperate to ignore the weird sensation. His foot started thumping off of the ground, bouncing his leg at a constant tempo.

"Oh?" The single syllable came out choked, almost caught in his throat.

Ishida nodded slowly, finally realizing exactly how strange Ichigo was acting. "Yeah… apparently it's an unbreakable bond between two people born at the exact same time. It says that they are cursed to share certain things. Sometimes thoughts, sometimes feelings, other times sensations."

All of a sudden, Ichigo went perfectly still. His leg stopped bouncing. His fingers stopped twitching. His body was now at an unnatural temperature, skin practically searing with heat. Ichigo was perfectly and utterly frozen.

The group stared at him in confusion, wondering what exactly was wrong with him. The orange haired young man did not move for a few more moments, and even then, he moved slowly, jerky and awkward. He leaned forward, expelling a heavy breath of air as he allowed his eyes to slip shut. A few seconds later, he opened them once more, pinning his gaze back onto Ishida.

"Do you mind if I borrow that book?" At the look that he got, Ichigo suddenly realized exactly how odd his actions must have looked to his friends. He shifted uncomfortably at the scrutiny from his friends, eyes looking off to the side as he said, "I had actually heard about that book before, and I guess I got a bit excited when I realized that it might be the one…"

_Liar._

He forced the accusation down, cursing his conscience for its terrible timing. He didn't want to have to deal with stupid things like regrets and uncertainty. He had found a link to his problem, to the very thing that he had been cursed with all of his life.

He wasn't about to let that go.

He swallowed, the action going unnoticed by the group. Ishida stared at him quietly, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong with him. A few moments of harsh silence passed by, Ichigo's brow becoming dampened by sweat. Finally, Ishida seemed to deflate a little before sliding the book closer to him. Without taking his eyes off of the red-head, he said, "Alright. But be sure to take it back to the campus library."

After a brief few seconds of hesitation, Ichigo allowed his eyes to slide over to the book, lingering on the curling golden letters of the title. As if something had been set off, he suddenly had a mission.

_Go._

If one asked him to explain it, he would simply stare at them silently. The urge was indescribable. He had to get away, to be alone when he opened the cover of that book. He _knew _it held answers to many questions that had lingered at the back of his mind ever since he had been a child.

He snatched the book up and wrapped his arms around it securely, taking off for the parking lot with haste and a barely managed, "thanks." It wasn't long before he was stumbling into his grey car, cranking the engine, and high-tailing it back to his place.

Behind him, the group of seven watched as the man disappeared around the corner, heading in the direction of the parking lot. The silence continued until Shuuhei shifted in his stance, putting weight onto one leg. "So…" he started, taking his eyes off of the spot where they had last seen Ichigo. "Anyone have any idea what the hell that was about?"

Light murmurs in the negative were his only response.

**

* * *

**

His blood was pumping way too fast.

He could almost hear the way that it was rushing through his veins, the loud way that it echoed through his ears around his heavy breathing as he ran up the stairs. (The elevator had been taking _way _too long to get down to ground level.)

Ichigo had rushed as fast as he could to get home, speeding like some bad-guy out of a cheesy action movie. He had been in such a hurry that his parking had been much less than perfect—in fact, he had parked across two spots in his haste. (He was probably going to get scolded by the management office for that…) Luckily, he had absentmindedly put his phone on the charger in the car and snatched it up (a habit) when he left the car, so it sat snugly in his pocket, a single bar of battery life keeping the slim machinery alive.

He didn't care about anything else, though. All that mattered was the book that was in his arms and the information that it held within its crisp pages. He barely registered the fact that he had made it into his apartment, habit being the only reason for him to shut the door behind him. His keys fell helplessly to the floor, forgotten as he plopped gracelessly on the couch. With the book in his lap, he reached over to the table sitting between the doorway and where he sat, clicking the lamp on. Never once removing his eyes from the worn cover, he allowed his hands to trace over the leather. It was an old book, obviously. However…

Ichigo opened the cover, coming to a title page with the exact same scrawling letters as on the front leather.

Apparently, the book hadn't been read more than a couple of times—if that at all. The pages were in good condition, crisp and unwrinkled. He could even faintly detect the scent that usually was stored within the pages of a brand new book. With a shaking hand, the red head turned to the next page, coming to a table of contents.

Slowly, he trailed his finger down the list, eyes carefully roving over each word that he passed, determined not to miss anything of importance. Finally, only a few lines from the bottom, was the very thing that he had been looking for.

'_Astrological Twins', _it read.

Before he knew it, he was flipping to the designated page, eyes automatically finding the picture in the bottom left hand corner. It was a simple sketch of a circle, different astrological signs lined up around the edges. He bit his lip and forced himself to look at the text, a sudden feeling of hesitance washing over him.

He wanted to know this. He _had _to.

Ichigo quickly read through the introduction and was already making his way through the main body of the text within a few short minutes. It only took him a good half an hour to make it almost to the end. But before he could finish, he stopped. This was the right thing, but… at the same time, it was _wrong._

The text alluded to two people feeling the same thoughts and feelings and sensations… but it wasn't limited like his was. He had never felt pleasurable sensations from his connection. It was always pain. Nothing else. Ichigo frowned. Perhaps this wasn't the answer like he had thought it would be.

Just as he was about to shut the book in dismay, the first sentence of one of the last paragraphs caught his eye.

'_There have been speculations as to an opposing sort of connection—also referred to as the reverse astrological twin.'_

A shudder ran up the length of Ichigo's spine, and it was at that moment that Ichigo knew. _That _was what he had been looking for. _That _was his answer.

There wasn't much information on the subject except for those last few paragraphs, and Ichigo held onto it like a lifeline in a raging storm. He had nothing else to go off of.

'_While astrological twins have connections borne through the same birth date, reverse twins are just the opposite. Instead of having the same day, they are born on the exact opposite sides of the year. If one is born in January, then the other will have been born in July. If one had been born on the 1__st__ day of the month, then the other will have been born on the 31__st__ or the 30__th__._

'_The nature of their connections would be that of the complete opposite, too. While astrological twins feel everything from their partner, the reverse twin would only feel half of their partner's experience. Only certain kinds of thoughts, feelings and sensations would flow through the connection._

'_The reverse twin, however, is something that is continually debated by supernatural theorists today, having found very little to support the idea.'_

The next breath that he inhaled was icy, chilling. Before he realized he had moved, he had pulled his phone from his pocket and started tapping away from the keys. His eyes never left the text of the book, staring unseeingly at the dull words running across the pages.

His phone beeped, signaling that someone had texted him. He hesitantly looked at the phone screen, opening the message. His breathing came to a stop altogether when he read and processed the message.

'_January 17t__h__. Why? You gonna get him a present? :D' –Nel_

He disregarded the last of the message, concentrating instead upon the date that was unmoving from the screen. January 17th.

Grimmjow was born January 17th.

Ichigo was born July 15th.

January. The opposing month to his own July. The 17th. He counted 15 backwards from 31... Only to land on 17. The opposing day.

_Holy shit._

The disbelief from his discovery at having a connection with Grimmjow from all those weeks ago flooded him once more. Ichigo honestly couldn't understand. He thought he had come to terms with the whole ordeal back then. But then again, this just seemed to make it all the more real. Now he couldn't pass it off as his own insanity or something of the like. It practically had solid proof at this point. It was authentic.

His panic attack didn't start to ebb away for another few minutes, lingering until its icy hold had numbed him to all. He didn't know how long he spent staring at the screen of his cell phone. Minutes, hours, days, who knew? Certainly not him.

Finally, reasoning was available to him once more as his mind took over. He couldn't hide this from Grimmjow. Not anymore. He was now away from that 99.99% zone and into the 100% sure zone. He had no right to keep this from the blue haired man. He had to tell him.

Now.

The book was left forgotten on the couch as he stood and made his way to the door, pausing when he realized he didn't have his keys on him. Ichigo hurried over to where they lay in the middle of the floor, only barely remembering to lock the door behind him when he left.

When he pulled up to Grimmjow's apartment complex, he didn't let himself do any thinking, making his body do everything on autopilot. He didn't want to chicken out at the last moment. He had to do this.

He had to.

Before he knew it, he was in front of Grimmjow's door ignoring the niggling thought at the back of his mind (_How do I know which one he lives in...?_) and he pounded his fist upon the heavy wooden portal. There was the brief sound of shuffling inside before the door opened to reveal the signature blue hair. Ichigo froze in place, unable to move.

_Fuck._

The nerves had hit him out of nowhere. Grimmjow looked at him in confusion before saying, "Hey… Wanna come in?" Ichigo still couldn't move, despite how much his mind was screaming at his body to do _something._ The older man watched him in bemusement, honestly wondering what the hell was wrong with the red head. There was a moment of awkward silence before he said, "Okaaay… Guess not." He stepped out of the apartment and shut the door behind him, fixing his sight on Ichigo and then folding his arms and leaning against the wall.

Ichigo floundered mentally. Finally, he was able to force himself to relax. It was okay. He could do this. He could open up to this man. Grimmjow wouldn't hurt or mock him. Hopefully.

Before he could open his mouth to start speaking, however, Grimmjow began talking first. "So, did you enjoy our date?" Ichigo blinked before his expression melted into a scowl. Suddenly he wasn't feeling so fearful and hesitant. Without realizing it, just speaking to Grimmjow had balanced him out once more, and he was already ready to respond to the question.

"For the last. Fucking. Time. It was _not _a date," he hissed, stance becoming a little more defensive. Needless to say, they'd had this particular argument quite a few times during the ride back from the paintball range. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at the man's response. "Oh really? How many times do I have to tell _you_ that you accepted a date, so it was, in conclusion, a date?"

Fists clenched at Ichigo's sides as a surge of annoyance ran through him. Why couldn't he understand? He didn't _want _it to be a date. He couldn't even trust the man, so why the hell would he _date _him? He narrowed his eyes furiously. "Stop being such a stuck up narcissist and get your head out of your ass."

It was Grimmjow's turn to blink before he frowned. It seemed like Ichigo was really pissed for some reason. A surge of misplaced annoyance ran through him and he internally frowned in confusion. What the hell was going on? He shook the feeling off, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He got the feeling that something was up with Ichigo. More specifically, something had been wrong with the younger man for nearly a month. Ichigo continued, "I'm not interested in being another one of your conquests, so why don't you just leave me the fuck _alone_?"

That last portion had stung. He knew that his previous ways were wrong. He wasn't about to say that he regretted it, but… with Ichigo was different. And the fact that his past was ruining his chances with the interesting man hurt.

So maybe he did regret it, a little bit.

Finally, Grimmjow could take no more. He was going to set things straight. But it was hard to do such a thing with someone like Ichigo. You couldn't be subtle in any way whatsoever. You had to be abrupt, and clear. Blunt.

Make a statement so huge that it can't be skewed in any way.

As Ichigo continued with his mildly relieving rant ("I mean my God, do you think _everyone _is interested in you? Are you _that _stuck up? Heaven forbid there's someone out there who isn't constantly watching your ass--"), Grimmjow stepped forward. Ichigo didn't notice until the blue haired man was only a few inches away from him, and then he cut off what he was saying. Looking a few inches up, his eyes locked onto electric blue orbs, confusion spreading through his being.

His eyes widened as Grimmjow closed the distance, coming closer and closer until he couldn't go any further and his lips were pressed against his own. Ichigo's eyes slid shut of his own accord, his mind shutting down. Surprisingly soft lips moved against his, sending sparks and heat through his body, ending at his toes and fingertips. His thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

What had he been saying, again?

**-Chapter End-**

I think I got _way _too into this chapter. During the scene where Ichigo's all panicky and jittery, speeding home and all that, I was the exact same way. My fingers were stumbling over the keys and I was bouncing in my seat. It was terrible. (And yet, absolutely hilarious.)

Ahhh, yes. Some honest-to-God movement on the relationship between the two. And an explanation on their connection. Yay! It seems like I've come so far with this story even though it's only the ninth chapter. Though, then again, we are nearing the end. Be warned. (Don't worry. There's about four more chapters left from what I have planned.)

Okay, if you guys don't understand how I got the 17th as Grimmjow's birthdate... I just counted backwards (With 31 equaling 1, 30 being 2, 29 being 3, etc.).

Oh, man. AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger! Take THAT!

_Review,_

**Review, **

_**Review!**_


	10. So Progressive

So… I really have no idea what I wanted to say originally. So I'm just gonna shut up. Don't worry, though. It's gonna get a little bit better in this chapter. And _hotter_. Hint, hint.

Edit: Wow... there weren't many mistakes in here. Makes me kinda proud of myself. :D Hahaha, ignore me. **Read on!**

Started May 4th

Completed May 28th

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Despair.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 10**

**So Progressive**

**

* * *

**

_What… the fuck. _

Brown eyes snapped open, suddenly hyper-aware of exactly what was going on.

Grimmjow was kissing him. The words ran through his mind multiple times, going so fast that they jumbled together into nonsensical sentences composed of the words "Grimmjow" and "kiss". Almost immediately after the thought finally sunk into his thick head, he went into action.

His arms shot from his sides, using momentum to shove Grimmjow away at the chest. Ichigo watched as the blue haired man stumbled away, a little confused at the loss of contact. Before anything else could progress, the younger man gave into his instincts.

_Run._

Without a single glance back, the red head turned on his heel and darted down the stretching corridor, heart pounding in his chest and cheeks flooded with a bright, vivid red.

**

* * *

**

Ichigo couldn't help but wonder why things seemed to be moving so fast. Just half a year ago, when he was back home halfway across the world, he was a withdrawn sort of guy. He had only a select few friends that he could count with the fingers on one hand and he never had to deal with the normal drama that goes on in life. He never looked at anybody, and they responded with the exact same method—by ignoring him. His days were mundane and boring and blurred together. Each day was the same and he knew what to look forward to and what to dread for the next sunrise.

Here, in this strange new city 12,450.775 miles away, he didn't know what to think anymore. He was simply lost and confused.

Now, he had this huge group of friends who welcomed him with warm and open arms. He was still withdrawn, but definitely more open and outgoing. Each day held something new—carried this odd (but pleasant) sense of excitement at what would be experienced from the time the sun rose in the East until it sank in the West.

And last, there was some random guy, popular and absolutely stunning, who seemed to have his eye on him. It was unfathomable. Why would someone as brilliant and generally social (in the romance department, at least) turn and look at Ichigo? Why, when they would usually look through and past him? What made him so interesting to Grimmjow?

It was impossible to comprehend.

He slumped back into the thick covers on his bed, vision going out of focus as he thought over past encounters with Grimmjow. There were no signs to show the growing attraction, were there? After all, he wasn't exactly the most experienced in matters such as these… Ichigo shook the wayward thoughts away. He couldn't keep pushing this off. This was happening _now. _He had to figure things out—get comfortable with where he stood and fully comprehend it. That way he could do something about it. Fix things. Hazed, yet oh-so-clear memories flooded his sight.

Blue hair sitting atop a smirking face. Words of hatred, confusion, and arguing. Exchanged insults and punches. Burning cerulean eyes.

A shudder ripped across his body, unnoticed.

Abruptly, the memories took a turn in a totally different direction. Eyes burning with passion bore into his soul, an amused and tantalizing smirk upon too-noticeable lips. Whispers of words unknown were breathed into his ear. Hands skimmed along his sides, first soft and gentle, then quickly becoming daring, running the palms full against his skin, pushing up his shirt, caressing his every muscle. A tongue licked at the edge of his mouth, spreading a tingling sensation across every inch of his body. Before he was able to really comprehend anything, the tongue was trailing down his abdomen, coming closer and closer to where a pool of heat was gathering. Warmth sent electric shocks all over him, causing him to spasm at random times.

He opened his mouth to release a moan, felt his vocal chords working, but heard nothing. His heart beat lingered in the tips of his fingers, pulsing through his neck, filling his sense of hearing. Chocolate eyes opened, catching bright blue. Something shifted in those eyes above his own, and then there was a hand skimming over his thighs, dancing lightly over his groin before there was a firm, delicious friction.

Ichigo snapped up into a sitting position, breath coming out in shallow puffs. His skin _burned. _Pleasant tingles ran up and down his spine, eyes becoming hazy with an overpowering want. Before he could realize exactly what he was doing, he reached down and palmed himself through his boxers, strangled groans falling on deaf ears.

"Ahhh…" Orange locks of hair shifted to the side as the young man threw his head back, shoulders rolling with the self-conscious restraint to keep his hips still. He slid further into the mattress, hand instinctively pulling away only to dip under the fabric of his boxers.

Chilled fingers wrapped around the firm length and he quivered slightly, unprepared for the abrupt frigidity on his heated cock. His hand was quickly warmed by the transferred warmth and he began hastily pumping himself, throwing his head back and forth in a frenzy. The dream came back to him once more, electric blue eyes burned at the back of his mind.

"Oh… God…" he keened, a sharp buzzing in his ears blocking out all sounds. The heat in his abdomen compressed, boiling to an impossible high before it burst, a strangled yell being pulled from his lips. All at once, his muscles relaxed, leaving behind a limp, panting husk of a man.

Slowly, oh-so-slowly, rational thought filtered back into his mind, the pleasant haze melting away and leaving behind cold, exposed skin, and a heaviness in his limbs. Ichigo blinked slowly, the sudden chill taking but a moment to register and his stomach sank. A shaking hand made its way to his mouth, covering his quivering lips.

He had just masturbated to thoughts of Grimmjow.

Heat centered at his cheeks, burned at tips of his ears. His eyes searched the ceiling, desperately hoping that it would hold the answers that he needed. No such luck. His hand slid from his face, falling soundlessly to the fluffy blankets. Ichigo forced himself to calm down, controlling his breathing to become something more natural than its previous almost-hyperventilating.

Chocolate eyes tried to slip closed, meaning to shut out the reality that had firmly planted itself around him. He quickly blinked them open when he was assaulted by the image of burning blue eyes. So he was attracted to Grimmjow. He knew that. But even if he was attracted… to have a… _wet dream _(he shuddered at the phrase) about the man… to him, that conveyed so much more.

Ichigo had been attracted to plenty of people. He had met people far more attractive than the blue haired man (though, admittedly, that particular number was trapped within the singular digits). But he'd never had such thoughts or dreams about them. Never.

He never would have imagined that he would be having such _needy _thoughts in his lifetime. He simply had been too distrustful of the people around him. Too withdrawn. _But Grimmjow…_

The red head rubbed at his cheek subconsciously, willing away the building itch beneath his flesh. Grimmjow was different. He had wormed his way into Ichigo's life. Regardless of the connection that they shared, Ichigo couldn't help but feel that it was odd for the older man to have found a way to squeeze into his short list of important people.

Ichigo started at the wandering thought. Important people?

Grimmjow?

He allowed his eyes to slip shut, a fluttering warmth creeping from his fingers and working its way up to his core. Before he could deliberate over the strangely addicting sensation, he was startled out of his thoughts with the sharp buzzing of the apartment doorbell. Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows, reality seeming to hit him smack-dab in the face once more. There was more going on around him than his personal dilemma (which seemed to oddly revolve primarily around Grimmjow). He hauled himself to his feet and padded to the living room, stopping short of the door just a few feet.

He sucked in a particularly rattling breath before he glanced down, noticing the dark stain on the front of his boxers. That simply wouldn't do. His brain kicked into overdrive, trying to figure out how to proceed. He couldn't just leave his guest on his doorstep. He wouldn't.

Brown eyes snapped up and zeroed in on the door, noticing that the lock was unlatched. Now that he thought about it, he had been in such a panicky state that he hadn't stopped to lock the door behind himself. Before his mind could catch up, his feet had turned him around and led him in the direction of the hallway. He yelled over his shoulder, "Come on in!"

Taking refuge in the bathroom, Ichigo locked the door firmly behind himself before rooting a new pair of boxers and pants. At hearing the distant click of the front door shutting, he called loudly, "I'll be just a minute. Let me clean up a bit!"

In record time, he had darted into the shower and was scrubbing himself under the spray of water. He quickly washed the cool cum from his crotch, washing the smell of sex down the drain. He didn't allow himself to pause and think like he usually would in the shower. It would send him running around in circles and he didn't want to fall any further into the confusion that surrounded his relationship with Grimmjow.

Stepping out of the shower and toweling off, he hurriedly slipped into his boxers and then pulled the jeans on over them. Just as he reached for the door knob, he paused, fingers curling away from the metal a few inches away. A strange sense of déjà vu curled around him before an anxiousness settled in the bottom of his gut. Ichigo shook off the feeling, determinedly stepping out of the bathroom.

Only to come face to face with the very person that had been on his thoughts all day.

The two gawked at each other for a moment, Grimmjow not expecting Ichigo to come out of the shower so soon and Ichigo not expecting to find that his visitor was Grimmjow of all people. There was a bit of an awkward silence before the blue haired man broke their eye contact in favor of allowing his eyes to travel down, lingering on his bare chest.

Electricity danced at his fingertips, spurred by the heated look that Grimmjow had trained on him. His ears burned, signaling an impending onslaught of a blush (why was he blushing so much lately? He never blushed! At least, not until he met Grimmjow…). Resisting the urge to throw his arms protectively around his torso in a girlish fashion, he settled for stiffly shoving his hands in his pockets, eyes looking just past the older man as he said, "Gimme a minute to find a shirt."

The other college student only barely heard the sentence as the red head was already turning around and hurrying to his bedroom at the far end of the hallway. He blinked at the space where the man had been standing only mere seconds before, shifting slightly. When he heard the click of the door, he allowed himself to relax a bit, eyes going hazy as he let himself fall back on his thoughts once more.

Truth be told, when he had made his way over here, the oddest thing had happened to him. Just as he had pulled up in the parking lot of Ichigo's apartment, a creeping heat had stirred, bringing his cock to life. It was the weirdest sensation he had ever experienced. An almost foreign pleasure had hit him out of nowhere and he was forced to sit in the car to ride it out. He was never able to come to completion, though. Actually, if he were to be totally truthful, he had thought for a moment that he truly had cummed, but quickly reassured himself that he hadn't. Luckily, he had been able to resist the temptation, but… it left him half hard.

So he sat in the car for a good few minutes, willing the erection away with images that he would never willingly conjure under any other circumstance.

Luckily he had been able to force it down most of the way… and the fact that he had time to himself after getting into Ichigo's apartment gave him a chance to calm his rampant hormones down. When the red head had walked out of the bathroom half-naked, though…

Well, it had ruined his progress. He glanced down at the small, practically unnoticeable (unless you _really _got a good look) bulge in the front of his trousers. He sighed to himself, running a hand through his hair. Really, this strange draw to the younger man was fucking _weird. _He had no doubt that there would be trouble because of it eventually.

Making his way over to Ichigo's comfortable corner couch, Grimmjow flopped down on the closest cushion, snapping back to attention when he heard the click of the door once more followed by the soft sound of footsteps on wooden flooring. He looked up to see Ichigo in a simple t-shirt and allowed himself a sigh of relief. Grimmjow didn't know if he could handle anything more revealing or promising—he would probably crack and just attack the man right then and there. He didn't really want to test his willpower. He liked his flourishing relationship with the younger man, thank-you-very-much.

Ichigo glanced about the room nervously, studiously avoiding the burning electric blue gaze. He wasn't ready for this. He still needed time to think.

_Even though you've been thinking ever since the date you guys went on_, a voice whispered traitorously in his head.

He shoved the thought back, resisting the urge to shake his head in order to dispel the lingering echo. Regardless of how long it took him, he would still need to think. He would be running around in circles until he came to a decision, and to come to that point, he would need to _think._

Rubbing at his forehead, Ichigo breathed out a quiet sigh, still refusing to meet Grimmjow's eyes.

_This is _awkward.

Grimmjow cleared his throat, causing the red head to jolt slightly. The blue haired man paused for a moment after noticing the strange reaction before he said with a raised eyebrow, "It's been three days." This time, Ichigo started a lot more visibly. Had it really been so long?

He glanced at the digital clock hanging above the window that peeked into the kitchen. He allowed himself to blink when he realized that it had indeed been a little over three days.

Ichigo must have lost track of time. That tended to happen when he holed himself up in order to contemplate.

There was a moment where the red head paused, before twitching slightly, eyes narrowing. What was he doing? He was being absolutely ridiculous. All of a sudden, it was like a fog lifted from around him. His shoulders slunk minutely, an invisible weight seeming to dissolve from his back.

For the first time since Grimmjow had walked into his apartment for that day, Ichigo looked up to catch his eyes. Grimmjow seemed to understand that his mood had changed and maintained his silence. They watched each other quietly, something unknown passing between the two. However, even though they were both confused as hell, they both smirked at the same time.

Neither of them understood what was going on. But for some reason, it was as if everything was alright again. Both Ichigo and Grimmjow had never been good with words. Perhaps that moment was just an example of the strength of their bond. Although they hadn't known each other for long, and had yet to really get to know each other, they both felt this inexplicable draw towards one another. True, in Ichigo's case, he had a specific name for the draw, but he couldn't help but feel there was so much more to it. It wasn't because they were connected through that strange bond or anything else.

It couldn't be.

They were simply able to understand one another. They didn't need words. Of course, there would be the occasional fist throw, or pointless bitch-out, but that was just the way they worked. They were too awkward for words. They relied on their actions.

Abruptly, the scene from three days ago flashed through Ichigo's mind. As he snapped his eyes away and turned around in order to hide his blush, Grimmjow spoke up once more.

"The others are starting to get worried. They sent me over to make sure that you aren't starving yourself or something. You never answered your phone calls," he said, seeming to chuckle over the blatant worry that their friends showed over him. As something of an unconscious reaction, Ichigo leaned over and snatched up his phone, noticing that he had nearly 40 missed calls. Forgetting his guest, Ichigo's face softened, the blush dying down to a subtle pink as he gave a small smile. Yeah, he couldn't blame them for worrying.

Grimmjow, from his seat on the couch, leaned back a bit more comfortably, an odd warmth filling him. _Well, fuck_, he thought to himself, lingering on the pleasant feeling tingling at his fingertips. He had it _bad._

The smile that had threatened to morph on his lips was held at bay when a loud gurgle broke the silence. There was a bit of an awkward silence before his lips changed into that of a winning smirk, only growing as he noticed the red hue of Ichigo's ears when he whipped away from him. It looked like their friends had reason to worry over their favorite little red head starving himself.

Grimmjow gave Ichigo a chance to regain his bearings, smiling at the wall as he watched the red head wave his hands frantically from the corner of his eye. After a few moments, he said while still looking at the wall, "Alright, how about this?" He caught the movement of Ichigo perking up subtly. "I won't tell your friends you've been starving yourself…" He turned his head to meet fiery brown eyes flames roaring in their depths. Ichigo could already tell it was something along the lines of blackmail. Refusing to back down, Grimmjow settled himself into a more comfortable standing position, crossing his arms almost casually.

"If… you come have dinner at my house and acknowledge it as a date."

There was a moment's silence after his statement and it was at this point that Grimmjow finally began to feel the nervous nausea clawing at the back of his throat. He was always the confident sort of man, but ever since he'd met Ichigo… well, he had been thrown off balance. Totally and completely.

On Ichigo's side, however, the same sort of nausea was rumbling in his stomach for a different reason. It seemed something like… excitement? Ichigo shoved that thought aside. No. That just couldn't be it. After all, he and Grimmjow didn't really get along all that much. For some reason, though, his heart couldn't really agree. His head kept on reflecting on those times filled with yelling and anger, but his heart… well, his heart was just too sentimental. Too thoughtful. He'd always been accused of being too kind, after all.

His fingers twitched at his sides, hands shaking ever so slightly. As the seconds pushed on, Ichigo was sucked further back into his mind, dropped in the midst of turmoil. Why were things so chaotic when it came to Grimmjow? He shook the thought off and frowned, staving off the turmoil. He couldn't keep deceiving himself. If he liked the man, then he should accept. If not, then he should deny. Whole-heartedly, no confusion. He phased back into reality, realizing that Grimmjow was still waiting, his casual posture having tensed up into something more strained, a look of withdrawn acceptance upon his face.

No, more like a look of withdrawn _defeat._

And it hurt.

The younger man's fingers gave a more sharp and violent twitch, jerking his arm up a little. Pain was radiating around his chest. Slowly, he brought a hand up, the confusion that had originally bloomed giving way to recognition, and finally, acceptance. He didn't want to see him hurt.

He _never_ wanted to see Grimmjow hurt.

Suddenly, it felt like he was no longer drowning under the weight of his chaotic mind. Rubbing at the spot just above his chest, Ichigo thought, _Well, damn. I guess this is pretty damn close to liking someone._ Ichigo let his head fall back, eyes staring unseeingly at the textured ceiling of his apartment. After a few moments of this, he heard the creak of the hard-wood floor and blinked back into awareness.

"Wait," he murmured, relieved when the blue haired man paused in turning toward the front door. It was a few more seconds before he pulled his head back up, brown eyes burning with a fire just as passionate as before but entirely different. If he was going to do this, he was going to do this with all his being. He would just have to trust the man before him to not break him into tiny, irreparable little pieces. Ichigo was, essentially, baring his heart on a silver platter. He crushed the vague panic at the back of his mind that was yelling, _screaming_ for him to not say those words—to change his mind and go back to living behind his little protective barrier.

He ignored it.

"I'll go," he said, keeping his emotions as far away from his features as he could get them as he tilted his head. Ichigo watched as the ice broke away from the blue haired man's face, his rigid posture melting into something like relief.

And when Grimmjow spoke next, Ichigo gave a bright smile.

"It's a date, then."

Indeed it was.

**

* * *

**

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a sort of haze for Ichigo, as he wandered around his apartment cleaning. His cleaning wasn't all too productive, however, as his dirty laundry had ended up in the dishwasher more than once (and the trash in the dryer). As the hours passed, he lingered over their brief conversation before Grimmjow had stepped out of the door.

"_You're not allowed to eat anything." The man's confidence was back, clearly. Ichigo shook his head in exasperation. "What?" he asked incredulously._

"_You're not allowed to eat anything," he parroted himself, an eyebrow raised. "You're eating dinner at my place. It's just past lunch time. I can't have you eat something and come over my house full." He shifted back into that arms-crossed stance, eyebrow lifted as if to challenge him with a pompous, 'can you argue with my logic?'_

_Ichigo opened his mouth to argue, to say that he was fucking _hungry_ and couldn't they just go out to eat _now?_ He stopped himself, however, when he realized the way Grimmjow had been phrasing it. So… the blue haired man was making their dinner? He recalled their previous conversation of Grimmjow's career choice and let out a brief sigh. Ichigo would just have to amuse the man. For now._

_Besides. He didn't want the man to tell Tatsuki. She would most definitely kick his ass._

The red head found himself withdrawing from his daze little by little as the arranged time drew closer, his entire body buzzing from the anticipation of what was to come. Finally, just a few minutes before the arranged time, Ichigo reached for the keys and stepped outside, locking the door behind him.

It was time to make the best of his decision.

**-Chapter End-**

Okay. So _maybe _Ichigo's current residence and previous residence aren't exactly half-way around the world (that is, 12,450.775 miles). But, I thought it was just an interesting little fact to plug in randomly. –shrugs- Whatever. I like it, so… Got a complaint? Direct it to my secretary. Twelve thousand, four hundred and fifty miles and seven hundred and seventy-five thousandths away. :P

(HA!)

Anyways. Hope you guys appreciated the additional fanservice of this chapter. I actually never meant for there to be a masturbation scene… it just kinda ended up in there. I looked back at the chapter when I was finished and was like, "WTF? When did I put that there..? Though it does fit rather nicely…" So I left it. Be happy. XD

Aaaaand it should be fairly obvious as to where Grimmjow stands on the connection. Lucky bastard. :P (Haha! You win, **Elizabeth Marie Jones**! You hit the nail on the head! I was laughing hysterically when I read your review that had your theory in it. Just like, "Woah… You totally got it right… but sucks for you—you don't get any confirmation for quite a few chapters!" I was absolutely amazed.)

…You know, it would be totally awesome to get some fanart for this story. I want to see how you see the characters as I portray them here. It would be really insightful. And totally kick-ass.

(Btw: the scene where Ichigo's all in a daze at the end? Where he puts his dirty laundry in the dishwasher? Yeah. I haven't done that, but I HAVE put my dirty laundry in the refrigerator. In the cheese drawer… Yeah…. Don't really know what was going through my head at _that _time…)

Oh yeah! Guess what? My birthday is on Tuesday! :D

So… Yeah.

_Review,_

**Review, **

_**Review!**_


	11. So Contenting

Oh man. I have just been way too preoccupied lately. I've had a great amount of free time, but… I guess I just procrastinated on getting this chapter started. Sorry guys. ^^;;

Started June 9th

Completed June 19th

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Misery.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 11**

**So Contenting**

**

* * *

**

Fingers rubbed lightly at abdominal muscles, soothing the quivering mass. Ichigo let out a soft sigh before looking up determinedly, a faint pink staining his cheeks.

Was this really happening?

The orange haired male reluctantly let his hand fall away from his stomach, eyes locked on the brass numbers adorning the door before him. The very door that he had been standing in front of just 3 short days ago. Abruptly, the memory of an urgent lip-to-lip touch flooded his mind, the pink on his cheeks deepening into a dark red.

No, the real question was: Did he have the guts to do this? Did he have the determination and the resolution to simply lift his hand and knock on that navy blue door that housed a man with a much more brilliant hair color? He shook his head, dispelling the oddly fond turn his thoughts had taken. That didn't usually happen. Honest.

Ichigo shifted on his feet, leaning more to one side as he considered the door. That was indeed the question that needed to be asked. After all of this time, he had made it up to this point. Though, looking back, it could probably be all attributed to luck. But what did he know? He was simply a lowly college student trying to make his way through life with as little trouble as possible. Of course, he obviously didn't have much luck in _that _aspect considering that he conveniently ran into Grimmjow. Again, the orange haired man shook his head. He was getting off topic. Again. He seemed to do that a lot. He had always been the introverted, careful-consideration type, so perhaps that was just something that he would have to live with for the rest of his life.

He growled under his breath. His tendency to get off-topic was really unnecessary at that point in time. In the back of his mind, there was a whisper, subtle yet amused that deigned to inform him that he was only trying to put off the inevitable.

"Damnit," he muttered to himself. Mentally forcing the wandering thoughts aside, Ichigo went back to the problem at hand. Did he have the courage to lift his arm and rap his knuckles on that wood just a short six inches away?

Just as his fingers twitched in order for him to make the move that he had been visualizing in his head, the door swung open, and there stood his eternal problem.

It seemed it no longer mattered whether or not he had the courage.

Blinking slightly, Grimmjow stood frozen, watching the younger man. There was a moment where his stomach did a back-flip in his abdomen, briefly giving him a giddy feeling. However, he pushed that back, instead deigning to reward his guest with a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Forget how to knock?" he teased lightly, internally wondering where the hell the newly soft and playful nature came from. Usually it would be a total onslaught of merciless jesting. Though, he leveled to himself, it could probably be the product of wanting something (a lot) more long term than a simple fuck.

Ichigo flushed on the doorstep, falling back into the huffing anger that always seemed to flood into him so naturally. It wasn't like an actual anger—it was light—a lot more easygoing and less serious. It made him more comfortable with the awkward situations that constantly seemed to happen between him and the older man. It also made him feel a lot more contented around him. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea after all. He could actually get along with Grimmjow—even with his natural unrefined personality when it came to interacting with the people around himself.

He was cut from his thoughts when a loud grumble issued from his stomach. He blinked slightly, looking up from the concrete floor outside of Grimmjow's doorway (when had he looked down?), and locked his brown eyes onto brilliant blue orbs. They held each-others gaze for a few moments before Grimmjow closed his eyes with a snicker, shaking his head slightly. Finally, the older man backed up into the threshold, opening the door a little bit wider for the red head to step in.

Casting aside the worried whisper at the back of his mind, the orange haired young man put one foot in front of another until he was almost mechanically making his way into the living room. Grimmjow followed along behind him, circling around him and pointing to a comfy looking plush couch. "Wait there for a few minutes," he simply said and then he was already disappearing through another door.

Pushing back the scowl that wanted to take place on his lips, Ichigo slowly made his way over to the couch, eyes concentrated on the thick beige carpet beneath his feet. When he finally sat down, he exhaled, consciously forcing himself to breathe. After finally making a quick decision, he tore his eyes from the carpet and observed the room around him.

He was pleasantly surprised. With Grimmjow being the haughty, quite obviously stuck-up person that he was, Ichigo assumed that his house (apartment) would reflect that nature to the t. But it was a lot different from what one would expect. All of the colors were simple and down-to-earth. Browns, oranges, maroons… it made him think of autumn. After glancing around a bit (and gazing in awe at the huge stereo system that occupied one wall), Ichigo finally began to relax, letting himself sink into the soft cushions. He let out a soft sigh, finally allowing his tense muscles to unwind. A mere couple of seconds after letting himself settle back, Grimmjow waltzed back into the room, wiping his hands off on a pristine white dish towel.

The blue haired young man stopped in front of the younger, taking his time to dry each and every one of his fingers before he shifted his weight onto one foot and swiveled quickly, ducking his head. He playfully extended an arm to the doorway, and said, "Dinner is served."

At hearing Ichigo's scoff, Grimmjow looked up with a smirk, gaze rising just in time to catch a perfect eye shot of the red head's jean-clad ass as he strode by. The smirk deepened, eyes becoming somewhat darkened as he fought the naughty thoughts back. Straightening up hastily, he padded along behind Ichigo, keeping his itching hands at bay. _I want this to _last, he reminded his hands. It wouldn't do for Ichigo to run out on him because he couldn't keep his hands from groping at the perfect ass. That would happen in due time. Until then, he had a date to lead…

"If you'll just turn to your right, good sir," he said clearly, chuckling slightly at the scowl aimed at him over the man's shoulder. Apparently the younger man felt a little embarrassed about the ongoing teasing. Oh well. He would get used to it eventually.

Ichigo paused before he approached the table, thrown off by the ridiculous amount of food covering the table-top. After getting a small prod on the back (and surprisingly, not jumping at the unexpected contact), Ichigo made his way over to the table. Just as he was about to pull out a chair, however, Grimmjow stopped him and pulled it out for him, smiling deviously as he said, "Allow me."

Restraining himself from twitching (and quite possibly punching the man), Ichigo grudgingly sat down in the chair, glaring at the obnoxious blue hair as it made its way around the table to the opposite side. Just as Grimmjow slid into the seat across from him, Ichigo narrowed his eyes and muttered, "I'm _not _a woman."

Blinking slightly, Grimmjow gave him an odd look before raising an eyebrow. "Yeah. And I wouldn't ever mistake you for one."

Ichigo was thrown for a loop. That wasn't exactly an answer he expected to hear. Of course, he didn't expect anything along the lines of 'oh really? I hadn't noticed' either, but still… Before he had time to contemplate over the odd warring of his feelings, Grimmjow continued, "But tonight you are my date and a guest in my home, so I will treat you as such." Again, he gave a lopsided smirk, an obvious challenge for him to defy his logic. And again, Ichigo relented, sitting back in his seat.

Grimmjow nodded to himself, glancing over the different dishes spread across the tabletop carefully. Finally, he looked up and jerked his head slightly. "Well? Get yourself some food, princess. I know you're starving." He chuckled at the low growl that Ichigo gave in response, but deigned to say nothing. So long as Ichigo got himself some food (which he was finally starting to do), he was content. Ichigo took a plate from the small stack in the middle and glanced at each of the dishes.

What in the _hell _was he supposed to eat? There was so much…

The blue haired man seemed to notice his dilemma and laughed quietly. Ahhh, Ichigo always seemed to make a big deal out of everything. Almost everything required a good amount of thinking for the younger male… Oh well. It was just the way he was.

Finally, he spoke up. "You don't have to eat everything. If you're not sure you'd like something, just try it and go from there. You don't have to eat it if you don't like it." Still, Ichigo looked torn, eyes shifting from each small platter every few seconds. Grimmjow merely shook his head and pointed out a few dishes. "That right there is Mediterranean chicken with eggplant. Next to it is some roasted garlic and oregano potatoes…" He shifted his hand, pointing out a few more. "Thai sesame noodles, sautéed shrimp and scallops, simple alfredo pasta…" He trailed off, seeing the lost look that Ichigo had on his face.

Ichigo was perplexed. The blue haired man had just rattled off a lot of words that he had no understanding of. He didn't cook. It just simply didn't work like that. Sure, he may work in a restaurant, but he was a _waiter. _He was simply a transport for the food. Nothing more. Ichigo followed Grimmjow's finger with his eyes, desperately trying to remember what name he gave to what.

It wasn't working.

He heard a snort from across the table and a slight clinking of silverware. Looking away from the mind-boggling dishes, he shifted his face just in time to see Grimmjow leaning forward and stealing the plate from in front of him. Before he could protest, the older man had started loading a bunch of different things on the plate. After quite a few different varieties of foods being added on, the heap was set in front of him, taunting him with its various colors and the delicious aroma. He felt Grimmjow nudge him with his foot and glanced at the man, freezing when he saw the soft smile that was on the man's lips.

"Go ahead and eat. I know you're hungry."

Forcing himself to snap away from the wondrous sight, Ichigo reached down and picked up a fork, staring at his plate. Now he was wondering where to start. Decisions, decisions. His stomach growled, irritated with his prolonged thinking and lack of eating. He stabbed at a random piece of food. He should really stop over-thinking everything. Because of that, his stomach was practically eating itself. Popping the morsel into his mouth, Ichigo chewed, pausing slightly. It was good.

_Really _good.

Noticing that Grimmjow had stopped getting his own food and started watching him, Ichigo began to chew again, swallowing the bite after a bit of hesitation. Without changing the speed in which he was eating, he continued spearing bite after bite, acting as if he had no idea Grimmjow was watching him. Finally, the blue haired man frowned then continued to pile up his own plate.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, Ichigo resolutely keeping silent. Actually, it wasn't that he _wanted _to keep quiet. He just couldn't help it. This was the first time that he had been in such an intimate situation. Which was kind of sad, considering that there was no… _touching _involved. Abruptly, the scene from 3 days before flashed through his mind. His fork fell to the plate with a _clang_ and he reached up to cover the flush that was spreading like wildfire across his cheeks. Grimmjow cleared his throat, causing brown eyes to snap to attention.

"…You okay?" The older male asked, unsure. Ichigo shifted in his seat and gave a sharp nod. "Yeah," he responded. "Fine."

Grimmjow gave a soft snort and decided that the silence was enough. "Do you like it?" he asked. Across from him, his date let his hand fall from his face. Seeing the slight tint of pink on Ichigo's cheeks, Grimmjow quietly chuckled. The red head licked his lips (Grimmjow couldn't help it that his eyes followed that motion… he shouldn't do it!) and then seemed to steel himself. Brown eyes locked on striking blue and then Ichigo said, "Yes. Very."

Blinking at the oddly forward admission, the blue haired man felt warmth crawling through his body. It was one thing for someone to compliment his cooking. It was in a whole other ball-park when the person you were trying to court complimented it. He had never felt like that from a simple two words. Never. Ignoring the odd tingling inching into his limbs and down to his fingertips, he asked, "Really?"

What? So he liked to bask in the praise a bit. So sue him.

Ichigo nodded, oblivious to the obnoxious reason that Grimmjow was pursuing the subject… Okay, so maybe he wasn't oblivious… but it really didn't come as a surprise at that point. It was just the way the older man was. He got over that a long time ago.

Shaking his head slightly, Ichigo kept his smirk in check. Shifting his chair back a bit, he maneuvered his arm to point out the different foods on his plate. "This right here has a very strong flavor..." he hesitated, eyebrows furrowing. Again, he knew nothing about food. How the hell was he supposed to honestly tell the man _why _he enjoyed it? After pausing, he internally shrugged. It was more than obvious he knew absolutely nothing about food... So he would just wing it. Grimmjow would understand, right?

"..I'm guessing it's from onion..?" He fished slightly, glancing up at Grimmjow. The man grinned and gave a sharp nod. Grimmjow found it very amusing. Not only was the whole situation of Ichigo floundering just generally humorous, but...

As Ichigo continued commenting about the meal and what he liked about it ("...I don't think I've ever really tasted potatoes with this seasoning..."), Grimmjow leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. Ichigo was-dare he say it?-very cute. He knew that Ichigo didn't have much experience when it came to dating and all of that intimate stuff. It was more than a little obvious with the way that the orange haired youth naturally was. Being the awkward, withdrawn person that he was, there was little chance of him having found someone to really open up to. Even at this point, with Grimmjow (more or less) 'courting' him, he knew that Ichigo still hadn't fully opened up. There would have had to have been someone with a more obnoxious and unrelenting character than himself. And he had high confidence that there weren't many people standing above him in _that _regard.

It was just... _adorable_ how Ichigo was trying so hard. It was obvious that the younger man knew nothing about the food... but he was trying to create a deeper connection between the two of them. Honestly, it was rather flattering.

Grimmjow groaned lowly to himself. He didn't think the day would come where he found himself _flattered _by the very person who's pants he was trying to get into. He frowned slightly. No, he had to rephrase that. That wasn't correct.

He didn't think the day would come that he would find someone that he seriously and whole-heartedly wanted to be with.

Snapping back to the real world when Ichigo tilted his head in a confused manner, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "What is it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and fervently hoping he hadn't missed something of importance. He really didn't want to fuck this up.

Something of a bemused frown pulled at the red head's lips, shifting them into an unintended lopsided scowl. He picked up his fork and stuck it into the Thai Sesame Noodles on his plate. After a quick twirl, the noodles were neatly wrapped around the prongs of his fork. He waved it slightly, drawing blue eyes toward it. "It's just... This tastes strange." Almost immediately after the words had left his mouth, brown eyes shot up from where they had been staring at the near-empty plate before him. He waved his hand slightly, fork wagging with the motion and said, "Don't get me wrong, they taste good, just..."

Again he frowned, eying the fork-ful of noodles. Grimmjow blinked for a moment before it dawned on him. "Oh..." He chuckled slightly, leaning back with a shrug. "That's probably because there's peanut butter in it."

A surprised expression flitted across Ichigo's face and he stared down at the noodles left on his plate incredulously. "Peanut butter..?" he trailed off, noticing the superior smirk on Grimmjow's face. Before he was able to ask, the older man had already began to answer. "It really offsets all of the other flavors and brings in a small mix of sweet." He shrugged to himself once more. "It's just the way that particular recipe goes, I suppose."

Ichigo contemplated his words for his moment before giving up. He would just leave all of the technical food stuff to Grimmjow. It was better that way.

After that quick conversation, Ichigo relaxed a bit more into the atmosphere, feeling less awkward and out of place. The rest of dinner proceeded in light, comfortable chatter.

**

* * *

**

After the both of them had finished their dinner, Grimmjow had led Ichigo to the living room, plopping the red head down on the couch as he sat down in front of him on the floor.

Without even realizing how awkward this particular situation would normally be for him, Ichigo shifted on the cushions and looked down at Grimmjow with something of a contemplative expression. There was a moment before he said, "I think you'll do great."

Blinking slightly, Grimmjow did a quick rewind. _What the hell was he talking about now?_

Noticing the confused look on the opposing man's face, the red head lifted an eyebrow and said, "Your… dream…" It felt weird to say something so cheesy. "You're a great cook. I think your restaurant will turn out to be one of the best." Oddly enough, he could easily imagine Grimmjow in such a setting. In fact, it came easier to mind than the memories of his own experience in _Soul Reaper's _kitchen. Actually, the memories probably just blurred together because people were constantly rushing about, throwing around pots and pans and slopping food onto their respective plates.

Yeah… he was glad he worked in the front of the restaurant. He likely wouldn't be able to keep up with all of the urgent scrambling back in the kitchen.

Grimmjow, however, seemed like the type who would do rather well in that sort of environment. He could see it now, the older man barking out orders and yelling at the poor new employee who didn't fry or bake something the _right way. _

The older man just always seemed to be in control of things. Like even though the whole world is halfway gone to hell, he could just snatch it back up and sit it upright with a simple flick of the hand. That was just the way he was. A position of leadership and higher standing definitely suited him. It just happened that his _other _talent lay in the culinary arts. So he would be head chef and owner of his own restaurant. Yes, it definitely fit the man. He could push past any problem thrown his way, no sweat.

Speaking of problems … Ichigo frowned to himself. There was still the matter informing Grimmjow of their… dual complication.

Grimmjow cleared his throat, having noticed chocolate brown eyes dimmed. When Ichigo blinked and refocused his vision, he came upon the sight of the blue haired man shifting onto his haunches. When their gazes connected, electric blue orbs glanced off to the side, the man apparently needing to regather his thoughts. Not that Ichigo was complaining. He was still trying to gather his own thoughts.

How the hell was he supposed to tell Grimmjow?

He was over-thinking things again. Ichigo opened his mouth, steeling himself. He would just have to spit it out. He couldn't keep on thinking over the matter. This was happening _now. _He'd made his decision and he would have to follow through with it.

When Grimmjow questioningly glanced at him, however, he caved. Now that he was up close and personal, he couldn't say it. He couldn't help it. It wasn't really something that could be said out loud so easily. This wasn't something that could just be randomly thrown out there. What was he supposed to say? '_Oh, yeah, Grimmjow? Well, remember all those weird times that I seem to yell out simultaneously as you when you hurt yourself? Yeah. I can feel your pain.' _Hell, he might as well tack on a request. _'It would be nice if you could stop hurting yourself.'_

Oh, yes. That would work out _brilliantly._

Realizing that Ichigo probably wasn't going to speak, Grimmjow steeled himself for what _he _was going to say. Taking a deep breath, he made sure that he had the red head's full attention before saying, "Ichigo, will you…" He hesitated, feeling absolutely ridiculous for having to speak this sentence, these _words__,_out loud.

"Will you date me? Be my boyfriend?"

Ichigo didn't move, instead choosing to stare at the man before him. There was a somewhat awkward silence for a few moments, and Grimmjow was already feeling the tell-tale signs of panic's icy hands gripping him. Then, Ichigo leaned forward, tilting his head somewhat as he rested his hands on the cushions on either side of his thigh and said, "Wasn't this already established by my accepting your date?"

Grimmjow couldn't help but fall on his ass in surprise. Noticing the strange reaction, Ichigo couldn't help but be confused. "I may be no expert… nor do I have much experience… but doesn't that generally count us as… boyfriends?" He stumbled over the last word, only just _honestly _realizing it himself.

…And he found that he didn't really mind it all that much.

Before he could really think about it, he was already expanding on his prior statement.

"Isn't that what we already are? ... Lovers?" He asked, a little more quietly as the revelation really sank in. He was in a relationship with this man in front of him. Grimmjow looked up, something resembling a beaming smile twitching at his lips. They were both content.

"Yeah. That's what we are," Grimmjow murmured.

**-Chapter End-**

Okay: question. How many of you ever-so-briefly thought the very opening paragraph was a sex scene? Or just a generally perverted scene? Just out of curiosity. I didn't really intend it that way, but when editing, I went back and noticed it sort of sounded like it so I changed it to make it hint toward that a little more.

Alright. So… I found this chapter to be a little bit weird to write out because… I _actually _had to do a little bit of research on all the dishes that Grimmjow busted out. Don't get me wrong—I like to cook and _do _cook, but I just sort of… make things. Make my own stuff up. I don't make things that already have names except for the obvious—spaghetti, lasagna, mac n' cheese, pizza—_obvious _stuff. XD

Bah. I know this took forever. I'm _so sorry. _I feel like I'm always apologizing to you guys. Ugh. Anyways. Not even gonna bother making excuses. I'm pretty sure nobody cares. Haha.

Oooooh. Only one more chapter and then the epilogue. D:

Mercy?

_Review,_

**Review,**

_**Review!**_


	12. So Unfair

Alrighty, then. I'm gonna go ahead and get this chapter started so that I don't end up delaying it for a ridiculous amount of time again. XD

Started June 19th

Completed July 3rd

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Melancholy.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Chapter 12**

**So Unfair**

**

* * *

**

There was the sound of clinking in the background, barely heard over the wisp of cloth in the near-silent room. Ichigo leaned forward a bit, slipping his t-shirt over his head. Pulling the material down to cover his abdomen, he glanced briefly at the floor-length mirror, checking that he hadn't forgotten anything. With a quick nod, he reached over and snatched up the lump that was his work uniform, stuffing it in the bag lying on the table.

He had just clocked out from a long, tiring day at work. Ichigo had been given the early shift for the day (6am to 1pm) and he was absolutely exhausted. Grimmjow had taken him out for another date the night prior and kept him out until 2am. Not the best of ideas when you had to take an early shift.

If that weren't bad enough, their entire group of friends had planned to stop by and hang out at Ichigo's house for the day after he got home from work. He didn't get the privilege of going back to sleep. Just to add on to that, he had a couple of classes the next day, bright and early in the morning.

It was apparent the goddess of luck didn't favor him too much at this point.

Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Ichigo frowned at himself in the mirror, thoughts already slipping in the usual, circular fashion. He had been dating Grimmjow for a total of 3 ½ weeks now. Things were going great between them. They had gone out a total of four times (all by Grimmjow's beckoning… and terrible timing) and the chemistry was running great between them.

Fortunately (or unfortunately for Grimmjow), they hadn't done anything past kissing. Ichigo still wasn't comfortable with such intimate acts… and apparently Grimmjow could sense that. He was glad that the older man wasn't pushing him to do anything like that just yet. Though, if things continued the way they were currently going, that could soon become an issue that would need some thorough dissection.

The current problem, however, was much, _much _different. Sighing quietly to himself, Ichigo broke his gaze from the mirror, making it to the doorway of the changing room, only to step back in order to avoid getting hit by the portal. Standing before him, Hisagi (though he insisted on being called Shuuhei) blinked at him for a moment before standing to the side. With only a simple nod, Ichigo made to move past him. Before he was a few feet out of the door, though, the purple-haired man spoke.

"You know…"

Ichigo turned around to regard the man, curious about the change of character. Hisagi was a rather reserved man, tending to keep more to himself rather than actively seeking social calls. It was the reason why they got along so well—they were very alike.

Knowing that he had the red-head's full attention, Hisagi continued. "About three weeks ago, you were starting to become more…" He waved his hands in a vague gesture, fishing for the appropriate word. "Open," he concluded, giving a decisive nod to himself. "But I've noticed that it seems to have fizzled out. You come to work more and more tired each day…"

Ichigo's expression turned somewhat guarded as he darted a glance to the side. He knew that. He knew that reality was starting to weigh down on him… He didn't need a reminder.

Hisagi noticed the look and settled for a frown. He maintained his silence for a few seconds longer and then said, "Just don't… Don't wear yourself out. Give yourself a break sometimes. You're only human." Without bothering to see how his statement affected the younger man, he turned around and shut the dressing-room door behind him, leaving Ichigo to ponder his words.

The words hit him like a slap to the face, and he couldn't understand why. He was giving himself a break. He wasn't wearing himself out. He was pushing through the days like he had the rest of his life, so it couldn't be any different now.

He caught his wording.

'_Pushing through'._

He cut the thought off, giving a firm shake of the head.

There was a reason that he was coming to work more and more tired. Not only did his boyfriend have shit-timing for their dates, but he was starting to feel… guilty.

He had a huge secret that made up a good part of his life. And Grimmjow knew nothing about it. He wanted so desperately to tell the older man, to rid himself of possible future hassles, but… he simply couldn't do it. To tell Grimmjow was to bare himself on a silver-fucking-platter, heart placed as the main dish with a fork and knife at the ready. He was terrified of the possible rejection. How the hell was the blue haired man going to react? That question, with answers that could range from one end of the spectrum to the other, was what scared him the most. That just left his feelings to battle it out with his logic, pulling his soul five different ways.

And it was tearing him apart.

**

* * *

**

Someone up there hated him. He just knew it. Ichigo knew that he must have been a serial killer in some past life, because the karma was too much for one lifetime.

When he walked through the door of his home, the group was already there, seated around his coffee table playing a nice, quiet (as if—Keigo was involved, after all) game of poker. What was weird was the fact that he had never given out his apartment key to _anyone _(not even Grimmjow) and he had most certainly locked up before he left for work that day. Glancing around, he found his prime suspects: the girls. More accurately, Nel, Tatsuki and Rukia. There was no doubt in his mind that one of them had either copied his key without his knowing or had found a way to pick his lock. He just couldn't catch a break.

With a quiet sigh to himself, Ichigo resigned himself to his fate and tossed his bag of work clothes in the corner of the room, plopping down on the loveseat next to Rukia. (Though, if there had been more seating room, he would have chosen to sit far away from the starry-eyed young woman…well, her along with Nel and Tatsuki.) The red head edged away from the short woman, making the movement as inconspicuous as possible. Ever since Grimmjow had announced that they were dating, Rukia's reaction had been… less than favorable for Ichigo.

If this were to be read into more deeply than on the surface, the meaning easily became clear: Rukia adored the idea of the two dating and had the gall to ask if they had 'done the dirty'. If that weren't enough, she, Nel, and Tatsuki all took it upon themselves to invite the poor young man on their shopping escapades for a girl's night out (because it was "only obvious that Ichigo was 'the woman' in the relationship").

Stirring from his thoughts when a round of groans went around the coffee table, Ichigo observed the situation. Because of the player limits (10 maximum) of the current game of poker they were playing, Rukia was sitting out the next couple of rounds. In front of him, the rest of the group was huddled around the glass of the table-top, each donning their separate steel poker faces (except for Keigo's… his was absolutely terrible). Ishida was at one end of the corner couch, legs crossed in a rather elegant (effeminate) fashion. Beside him was Orihime, Chad, and Tatsuki. Ulquiorra and Szayel had both pulled up chairs from the dining room table while Keigo and Mizuiro sat on the floor beside them. (Keigo was actually almost in Mizuiro's lap… it was a wonder how the introverted young man put up with him all this time…). Beside them sat Nel, legs stretched out in a very masculine fashion, a devious smirk tainting her lips as she eyed the other players. Lastly, beside her, just a few feet directly in front of Ichigo, sat Grimmjow.

He couldn't see his lover's face, seeing as his back was turned to him, but not for the first time, he found himself almost captivated. His eyes lingered on the back of his neck, where bright blue strands of hair thinned out to show the muscles that strung from the back of the man's skull down to his shoulder blades. Grimmjow turned slightly just then, showing a side profile, and Ichigo was struck dumb. He was wearing glasses.

If he were to be perfectly honest with himself, he would readily admit that it looked damn sexy.

Of course, being honest with himself had always been something of a problem for him.

To his left, he heard an odd sound, something of a devious chuckle. He turned to see Rukia giving him a look—head lowered slightly with her eyebrows drawn suggestively. She glanced down, noticing the space that he had put between them and scooted closer, smirk growing when she noticed the way Ichigo fidgeted. She stopped moving, instead catching his gaze and then directing a glance in Grimmjow's direction. Then she said, "Thinking dirty thoughts?"

Though she had said it quiet enough for nobody else to hear, his reaction most certainly got the rest of the group's attention. "N-No!" he spluttered, face quickly heating to what was certainly an unnatural temperature. Various sets of eyes strayed from the cards in their hands, watching him in a questioning manner.

Flushing under the attention, he coughed and turned to the side, opting instead to glare at the door. After a few moments, the group returned to their game, though they each kept an ear out for future outbursts from the red head. He heard a light giggle from behind him, and his mood changed completely. The usual scowl slipping onto his features, Ichigo slowly turned and eyed her with a glare. "That _wasn't _funny," he muttered, hoping that none of the group a few feet away could hear him.

Rukia, however, obviously didn't feel threatened by his less-than-approachable expression and kept the conversation rolling at a normal audible level. "Really," she said, continuing with a superior raised eyebrow, "Because I was most definitely laughing."

The scowl remained upon the young man's features. He was not amused.

With something of a snort, she shrugged, tilting her head deviously as she said, "So… How's the sex?" Black eyebrows wriggled in a conspiratory manner. Promptly choking on the saliva at the back of his tongue, Ichigo gave a short cough to gain his breath back. Leaning over to help the natural reflex, he stared at the plush carpet flooring beneath his sock feet. Why was he being tormented like this? What, in the name of all that was holy, had he _done _in his past life? Pushing back the wayward thoughts, he sat up straight, keeping his gaze far away from the short woman (who seemed to be bouncing in her seat from excitement).

"We haven't—" Before he had the chance to finish, Szayel spoke up from his pulled up chair. "Kuchiki… You're back in." The black haired woman blinked, watching as the pink haired man stood from his seat and made his way over. More than a little confused, she gestured toward Ichigo. "But what about Ich—"

Szayel cut her off by tugging her up from where she sat by the hand. "It's fine…" He glanced at the red head in question and said, "I imagine he's a bit tired from work, anyhow." Already sitting in the place that she had once been in, he crossed his legs and leaned back, looking for all the world like he was comfortable where he was—and likely wasn't going to move any time soon.

After watching the man for a moment, Rukia simply gave up and moved to where Szayel had previously sat, plopping herself down and immersing herself in the poker game once more.

Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, Ichigo allowed himself to relax a bit more into the loveseat cushions. He lazily glanced back at the game of poker, examining all of their faces quietly (well, the faces that he could _see)_ and silently made bets to himself on who would win this round. When he began to feel an odd sensation coming from his left side, however, he turned his attention to Szayel…

Whom seemed to be intent on burning a hole in his face with his gaze.

He blinked, a little unnerved by the analytical stare the man was giving him. The few moments of the oddly tense staring contest went by slowly, seeming to take minutes rather than seconds. Finally, the pink haired older man broke eye contact and glanced down before seeming to decide something. When he looked back up, there was a fire in his eyes and he scoot a bit closer.

Once again, Ichigo found himself edging toward the arm rest. Really, couldn't people just respect his general dislike for personal contact? Granted, with all of the contact with Grimmjow lately, he had been doing a lot better, but he still preferred to maintain his distance with people he didn't know all that well. And Szayel fit rather snuggly into that category.

After a bit more staring, Szayel leaned forward, resting his chin on his palm, elbow set upon his knee. Then he tilted his head _just so_, pink locks of hair falling into his face and he simply said, "So have you told him yet?"

The only reaction he had to this particular question was internal—it was like his blood froze. _Surely, _he thought, _Surely, he couldn't know. _Without realizing that his eyes had closed, Ichigo opened them once more, training them on a spot on the wall just over the older man's shoulder. Of course he couldn't know. It was highly unlikely that Szayel would be able to find out something like that. Most people wouldn't even believe it if it were to stare them in the face. Ichigo relaxed, allowing his balled up fists to slowly uncurl in his lap and his shoulders to slump a bit.

"What are you talking about?" He couldn't help the lilt, bordering on a stutter in the middle of the question. Something in his gut was telling him—

His eyes strayed from that spot on the wall, slowly trailing over to the pink haired man. When he locked gazes with the man, however, Ichigo felt that panic crawling up his throat once more. Golden eyes were burning with a knowing purpose.

He _knew._

Swallowing back the bile that wanted to come up, he shakily held the gaze, hoping upon hope that he was absolutely wrong.

Szayel raised an eyebrow slightly, tilting his head a little further. He shook his head slightly and responded calmly. "About your being his reverse twin."

The hysterical laugh caught in the back of his throat. He could already feel the urge to jump up and throw himself for the door, praying that he could make it out of the apartment and halfway down the road before anyone would bother coming after him. Ichigo forced the irrational urge back, swallowing once more. He had told himself before, right? He couldn't keep running away. He had to face this. It was a part of his life that was going to _stay that way_ and the best way to live with it was to face it.

Sucking in a particularly icy and shaky breath, he could only utter one word. "..H-how…?" Even though it was only a single word, Szayel seemed to get the general idea and leaned back, all-knowing eyes trailing over the group surrounding the coffee table before finally resting on the back of Grimmjow's head. Folding his arms across his chest, he admitted, "I was the one who found that book and suggested it to Ishida. You had always been rather strange and acted odd… and I noticed that you always seemed to react at the same moment as he would," he jerked his head at the blue haired man, "whenever he got hurt. From that point I just started looking through a bunch of books. It took me a good few months to be able to find that book, but it seemed to fit everything that I've seen from your side…" He looked back at Ichigo. "So I figured that was probably the very thing I had been looking for in the first place."

Shifting in his seat somewhat (thankfully further away from Ichigo than he had been before), Szayel eyed the red head, clicking his tongue quietly. "But from your reaction… I'm going to guess that you probably haven't told him." Once again, he looked pointedly at Grimmjow.

Ichigo forced himself to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, already having realized that there was no way around this conversation. It was either now or later… and it was best to go ahead and get it over with. He gave a jerky nod, also glancing in the blue haired man's direction. "Yeah…" he muttered, covering his mouth so that none of the group could see his mouth move. "I've come close to saying it a lot of times… but either something happens or I just completely change my mind."

Pink locks of hair whirled slightly when Szayel shook his head. "You have to tell him. As quickly as possible. He's as much a part of the connection as you are." He tilted his head down a bit, his eyes being shielded by the glare of his glasses. Ichigo turned, about to respond, when suddenly he yelped at the precise moment that Grimmjow yelled "Fuck!" Both parties grabbed at their right foot, bringing it closer to themselves to be nursed. Most of the group, having seen Grimmjow slam his foot on the leg of the table, weren't much phased by that. The fact that Ichigo had seemingly gotten hurt at the exact same time, however, was definitely a cause of interest. Especially when Ichigo's foot had been nowhere near anything that could hurt him.

Nel stared at Ichigo from where she sat beside Grimmjow on the floor, glancing back and forth between him and her step-brother curiously. "Wow…" she breathed, eyes lighting up in excitement. "Talk about an eerie coincidence!" She bounced up and down, clapping her hands quietly, seeming to have forgotten that the 'eerie coincidence' consisted of pain for her friend and step-sibling. No matter.

Szayel had seen his opportunity.

"_Yes,_" he stressed, glancing at Ichigo who looked rather pale. "Quite the coincidence," he repeated, keeping his golden eyes trained on the dilated brown just a foot and a half away. He stood up, giving a somewhat vague gesture to the group. "Well, that reminds me; Ichigo said he had something very important to tell Grimmjow." He ignored the way his friend in question glanced up at him uncertainly before eyeing his red headed boyfriend suspiciously.

"Whaaaaaat…?" Keigo groaned from the floor, pouting childishly. "But this was supposed to be a night for all of us!" He crossed his arms and glared toward Ichigo, almost as if he were hoping his (rather pathetic) glare would scare Ichigo into changing his mind. Ichigo, however, was still staring at Szayel as he herded Chad, Ishida, Inoue, and Rukia out the door. Ulquiorra slipped around him and out the door by himself, already realizing that there was little need for him to be forced out… it was going to happen either way. Szayel made his way back into the room and prodded Keigo and Mizuiro into standing, smiling kindly at Nel when she got up of her own accord and directed them to the door. When he came back into the room, only Chad and Tatsuki were left behind, glancing somewhat unsurely between Ichigo and Grimmjow. They both traded a look and nodded, standing up simultaneously and making their way past Szayel to the door.

When their footsteps had faded, Szayel nodded to Grimmjow and then gave Ichigo a look. "Don't turn back," he simply said to the younger man. Then, he was turning around and making his own way through the door, shutting it firmly behind himself. Ichigo's eyes were locked on the door, horror causing his arms to start shaking slightly.

Grimmjow cleared his throat, more than a little confused when Ichigo's eyes snapped over and locked on his. Why was he acting so strangely? Surely there wasn't anything _that _bad that he had to be told about… right?

His eyes followed the way Ichigo seemed to push further back into the cushions, watched intently when he noticed Ichigo's adam's apple bob with the force of a particularly large swallow. What exactly was going on? Ignoring the way his foot was throbbing, he stood up, furrowing his eyebrows when Ichigo seemed to flinch. He was the one that should be flinching. Standing up had not been the best idea and his foot was definitely protesting the movement. Grimmjow ignored the pain and made the few steps necessary to get beside Ichigo and fell into the cushions where Szayel had been sitting before.

Lifting his hand, he brushed his knuckles against Ichigo's cheek. "What the hell is going on, Ichigo?" he asked, furrowed eyebrows dipping further when he realized how pale his boyfriend was. Automatically, his thoughts went on over-drive. The red head wasn't sick, was he? Maybe he was moving away? Maybe something really big had happened… He forced the thoughts back. It wouldn't do to get caught up in his own theories. It would only obscure the truth and cause unnecessary problems. He had to wait until Ichigo was comfortable with telling him. That was the only choice.

When another few moments passed by, the blue haired man growled under his breath. "_Ichigo…_" he said, voice clearly showing the warning tone lacing the single word. He said he would wait for him to say it himself… he never said anything about being patient about it, though.

Gulping once more, Ichigo blew out a trembling breath. "Okay," he murmured. "Just…" He glanced up, eyes dilated with mute fear as he locked his gaze on that of his lover's. "Give me a minute, okay?"

Able to realize that this was something big and that Ichigo _was _intending to tell him, Grimmjow allowed himself to relax slightly. He gave a nod, watching as the brown eyes slowly seemed to return to their normal size and instead took on something of a hazy quality. Ichigo had lost himself in his thoughts once more.

Ichigo was, true to Grimmjow's suspicions, pushing through his whirlwind of thoughts.

He was going to tell Grimmjow once and for all, whether the outcome was doomed to be terrible or good. Either way, he was going to get this off of his chest and lay things down—come clean.

He had been pushing though his life like some sort of burden. Life had always been hard for him because of his difference, and because of that, he tended to take the harder route. It was more effective and kept him safe and protected from the things that could potentially harm him due to his secret.

Maybe that was the true problem. His unwillingness to just give himself a break once in a while. The fear of the possibility of being hurt. It was time to let someone else truly know about his burden and allow them to shoulder some of the weight.

His thoughts chased each other in circles. He spent a few moments contemplating this, before he snapped away. Ichigo locked the thoughts away and steeled himself. Now was the time to do this. Nodding decisively to himself, he decided to use the only method that he really knew: quick and blunt.

"I'm not normal," he said, finally wondering how exactly he was going to get the point across. Grimmjow didn't look fazed in the least and simply replied, "Is that supposed to be news?" The man's smirk was back once more, lighting a fire under Ichigo's cheeks (though, whether it was from indignant irritation or embarrassment, he didn't know). Well, at least it might be a bit easier to say what he was trying to say.

"Haha, very funny," he intoned, rolling his eyes slightly. Grimmjow noted the way Ichigo seemed to be regaining his previous color with triumph. _Good, _he thought with something of a smile, _maybe this will make it a bit easier if I just act like normal with him._

Returning once more to the mission at hand, Ichigo sucked in another breath, and said, "It's more than that." Being sure that he locked his gaze with electric blue, he said, "I've always had phantom pains." The way Grimmjow blinked made him feel a bit uncomfortable. Almost as if it was normal to have phantom pains. "Extensive phantom pains on a nearly daily basis," he reiterated, more than a little confused with the way Grimmjow was watching him. It was like he was expecting something a _lot _bigger.

_Well, _Ichigo thought to himself, _he's going to _get_ something a lot bigger._

Without really meaning to, a scowl slipped on his face and he continued with, "And it's your fault." _That _threw Grimmjow for a loop. He snapped back slightly, eyebrows furrowing from what was previously his bored expression. How the hell was he to blame for Ichigo's phantom pains? It made no sense whatsoever.

Gritting his teeth for a moment, Ichigo looked away and blew out a somewhat irritated sigh, memories of his childhood filtering to the surface. When he had felt pain so strong when he was a kid for a few days in a row, even a few times extending for a good few weeks. "More specifically," he muttered, a lightly venomous tone in his words, "my phantom pains are actually your pains." He turned back to see Grimmjow staring at him blankly.

"Right," he snorted, playing it off as a joke, snapping out of his trance and chuckling slightly to himself. He stood up and made to go into the kitchen when Ichigo's voice stopped him.

"You broke your left leg when you were 9 or 10, didn't you?"

He stopped in his tracks, feeling a strange sensation curling in the pit of his stomach. Yes, he had broken his leg when he was about to turn 10. It was all because of a stupid dare to jump out of a tree… and it obviously had not ended all that well. He shrugged it off. Ichigo could have easily asked Nel about it, right? Just as he had been about to venture further into the apartment and again into the kitchen, Ichigo spoke once more.

"When you were 16, you got in a really bad fight. You had twisted your ankle rather badly, busted the knuckles on both of your hands and hurt your left arm."

That feeling came back to Grimmjow for a moment before he pushed it back once more. Again, that was common knowledge. Nel could have told him.

"Oh," Ichigo seemed thoughtful. "And your right shoulder was hurt pretty badly… it seemed to stick around for a while, so it probably wasn't treated."

_That _made Grimmjow stop. Pivoting on his foot, he stared at Ichigo dazedly. He hadn't told anyone about that particular injury. Call it stubborn pride, but he was the type of person to hide his injuries… not to mention that was around the time that he had started avoiding doctors altogether. He would hide as many injuries as he could… and his shoulder was the one injury that had escaped notice back then.

Ichigo, knowing that he had Grimmjow's full attention, nodded down to his right foot and then the blue haired man's. "The same thing happened just a little bit ago," he said, rubbing at his own foot for emphasis. "You hit your right foot just under the ankle."

Grimmjow was frozen. That couldn't be possible. It just couldn't be. It was like something out of some sort of freaky supernatural book. Ichigo noticed the look of disbelief on his face and blew out a sigh, a numbness washing over him. He was no longer all that scared… he couldn't really blame the man for being in such a state of disbelief. It was only natural, really.

"I'm not lying, though I can't blame you for being skeptical… How about…" he started, glancing down before biting his lip. "How about I turn around, and you can inflict a bit of pain on yourself. As hard as you like, anywhere you like." While he preferred to avoid such unnecessary pain, it was rather important and necessary in getting his lover to believe him. Grimmjow seemed to debate on something before giving a sharp, silent nod. Ichigo stood up, turning around to face the wall and let his arms fall to his sides.

There was a moment where nothing happened, and then suddenly, a stark, circular pain bloomed from his right arm on the bicep. He let out a hiss and automatically grabbed at his limb, instinctively trying to soothe it. There was a quiet sound of awe before another pain, duller than the previous one, burst on the right side of his neck. This time, he let the discomfort be heard as he smacked a hand to the hurt area. "Ow, you bastard!" He whirled around, finding electric blue eyes trained on him, an indecipherable look in their depths.

After a few minutes of the quiet staring contest, an odd sensation burst at the back of his mind, growing as each second past. Something like awe.

Before he was able to contemplate the oddity, Grimmjow stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him, nuzzling his nose into the junction between his neck and shoulder in a somewhat awkward motion to avoid inflicting damage on his spectacles.

"I believe you," Grimmjow murmured, so quietly that he almost hadn't heard it in the first place. Then, before he had the chance to rejoice in the fact that Grimmjow seemed to be okay with all of the strangeness that came with Ichigo, the blue haired man leaned out of the embrace quickly and smacked his own arm, causing Ichigo to yelp at the sharp pain that had bloomed on his own arm.

Restraining a twitch, Ichigo glared the few inches difference up at Grimmjow, thinking back to how often he seemed to experience the phantom pains in the past. "You don't happen to be a masochist, do you?" His eyes narrowed, warning the older man clearly that, if so, it _had better change._

A smirk was stretched across Grimmjow's lips in response. "No..." he drawled, glancing around him for a second before looking right back at his lover. "But I _do _happen to be something of a sadist." The grin that dominated his lips was purely predatory. He leaned forward and initiated a kiss, nipping at Ichigo's lips to the point to where it broke the skin and began to bleed just a bit, as if to illustrate his point. Pulling away with that smirk on his lips once more, he spoke before Ichigo could scold him.

"I don't give a fuck if you feel my pain or not. In fact, it seems to work out in favor of our relationship. It just means you have a connection with me… that I'm assuming we can't get rid of," he raised an eyebrow, "…Just means that you're stuck with me for good." Abruptly, a giddy feeling burst through Ichigo, the words invoking a sense of finality. For the better. He felt a burst of excitement as he watched the older man, his gaze lingering on the oddly fitting glasses. He _did _look rather good in those...

Once more, Ichigo was pulled closer to the older man and subjected to a rather rough kiss. Grimmjow edged a knee between his thighs and rubbed. When a flash of pleasure burst through his own groin, however, Grimmjow stepped back with an incredulous expression. "Is there a reason why my rubbing against you gave _me _pleasure?"

Abruptly, Ichigo's thoughts halted, instead turning back to his memory of what the book had said.

'_The nature of their connections would be that of the complete opposite, too. While astrological twins feel everything from their partner, the reverse twin would only feel half of their partner's experience. Only certain kinds of thoughts, feelings and sensations would flow through the connection.'_

"Fuck! Now that's just unfair!" Ichigo yelled his displeasure, glaring at the ceiling. Grimmjow had already seemed to put two and two together, and his smirk was back with a renewed vigor. "I think I'm rather liking this connection." After all, how could he _not _be excited that he could feel his lover's sexual pleasure? It wasn't only intriguing, it was an _excellent _discovery.

He leaned back toward Ichigo, fully intent on exploiting this breakthrough. He was _not _going to let this go to waste. Ichigo, however, groaned quietly to himself, worried for his future.

It seemed that even when things were going rather well, Ichigo's bad luck felt the need to intervene.

Damn.

**-Chapter End-**

Ugggghhh. I was so sore while typing up the second half of this chapter. It was really hard to type up… still is. My knuckles are bruised… I never realized how much of a part the knuckles played in the typing process. Anyways, my friend had decided to introduce me to her personal hobby: kickboxing.

Let's just say… the instructor took a personal interest in my enthusiasm and pushed me, as a newbie, pretty far. I passed out when I got home… and didn't wake up until 18 hours later. Scared my mom half to death. XD

Anyways. I had my… uh… personal… (what's the word)… worries? about this chapter. For some reason, I feel like this chapter had some writing that is very different from my usual style. I'm not all that sure. Hopefully, I'll have gotten rid of all of the stuff that just sounds totally out of place.

Wow… this is technically the last chapter (we still have the epilogue left)… and it turned out a lot longer than I thought it would. I thought it would end up being barely over 3K… and it _almost _doubled. I'm proud of myself. :D

So….

_Review,_

**Review,**

_**Review!**_


	13. So Contradictory

A/N: The sexual content has been removed from this chapter—this chapter has been edited to fit the guidelines of fanfiction dot net. If you wish to read the full version, you must be 18 years or older. It can be found on LiveJournal under my username as Desperatembrace. If you have trouble finding it, the link is in my profile as my homepage.

Started July 5th

Completed July 17th

**Authoress: **Desperatembrace

**Disclaimer(s): **I do not own Bleach. Boo.

**Warning: **

Yaoi

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

**Epilogue**

**So Contradictory**

**

* * *

**

Clatter was heard all around the restaurant, every single table full with hordes of merry and lively customers. Families playfully scolded each-other at their individual tables, groups of friends laughed and joked loudly with each-other. Some groups had multiple tables pushed together (consequently causing many waiters to silently curse the huge amount of people and undeniable workload that would follow). Waiters and waitresses, dressed comfortably in nice button-up shirts and slacks, with simple black aprons, darted about the isles, dodging small children and hurrying back and forth between the kitchen and their guests. Contrary to the hustle and bustle of the employees, it was a relaxed atmosphere, a comfortable feeling emanating through the building, giving many customers a sense of warmth. It was precisely because of that nearly-impossible-to-obtain atmosphere that the restaurant was so popular.

Well, that and the mouth-watering food.

Pantera had quickly risen through the ranks, becoming the number one restaurant in just eight months following the day it had opened. Almost immediately it had picked up a great deal of customers, usually from the two nearby universities. As the weeks passed, it gained more and more credibility until it was constantly full, never without a customer.

While the waiters pranced about through the aisles in the front, the owner and founder of the popular restaurant stood in front of the stove-top back in the kitchen. Taking a moment to rub at his brow with the back of his hand, the man did a quick snap of his wrist, skillfully flipping the food in the skillet.

"Grimmjow!"

The blue haired man looked up, not even pausing in throwing in seasonings. Luppi, a rather petite waiter jogged through the chaos that was dubbed the kitchen. Barely dodging a plate full of sautéed chicken and onions, he stopped in front of his boss and employer, cocking his hip slightly. "It's time for your break," he stated, raising an eyebrow and jabbing a thumb toward the doorway.

"What? No it's not," Grimmjow replied, lips twisting. He gave a pointed look at the digital clock hanging on the far wall. "Besides, I don't need a break. And when the hell did you start thinking you can tell m—"

Luppi cut him off, hands raised in a half-assed 'give-up' gesture. "The berry is here." When his boss stopped and seemed to deliberate over the words, he flashed a smile and pranced away, cleverly evading a sous chef passing by with a couple of pans.

Glancing at the skillet he had been working with, Grimmjow heaved a small sigh, glancing around before snapping his fingers at a man with long yellow hair tied at the nape of his neck. "Granz! Take care of this for me! Table 9!" Not even bothering to watch for him to nod, the blue haired man maneuvered through the kitchen and out of the door, stepping into the lobby area. Not spying a head of orange hair anywhere amongst the patrons, Grimmjow blinked, momentarily stumped. There was a moment of contemplation before he rolled his eyes and backtracked, instead making his way into the changing room.

True to his suspicions, he walked in the room just in time to find Ichigo dropping his bag to the floor and rolling his shoulder, popping the joint with a contented sigh. He clicked the door shut behind himself, startling Ichigo to turn around. When he saw Grimmjow, however, he dropped his arms with a ghost of a smile, crossing the room to plant a chaste kiss on his lover's lips. When the older man attempted to push the kiss into something a little more heavy, however, Ichigo pulled back, smacking him lightly on the jaw.

"You're _working_, Grimmjow."

Noticing the fact that Grimmjow was still leering at him, Ichigo rolled his eyes, stepping out of the embrace with a low chuckle. He ignored the reverberating groan (that he supposed he probably shouldn't have heard) that emitted from the older man, clearly showing that he was not pleased. Making his way back over to where he dropped his bag, Ichigo dropped onto one of the chairs and rolled his neck, rubbing at the sore muscles lightly. Squinting his eyes open, he peered at his boyfriend, catching the subtle twitch of the man's hand. Instantly, a scowl was upon his lips.

"Grimmjow, _no._"

The blue haired man frowned and looked away, crossing his arms like a petulant child. There was no doubt in his mind that the man had been thinking about giving Ichigo a massage, which would, in turn, likely morph into something of a more sexual nature. Ichigo felt a soft whisper at the back of his mind, just barely loud enough for him to hear.

"…_cares if I'm working…"_

"Damnit, Grimmjow. You're _working! Busy!"_ He almost smirked when he heard the low growl from his lover's throat, instead choosing to smother a yawn behind his hand. Things had been going real well for them. It had taken a few years, but the two of them had figured out that they had the whole package of the reverse twins. Not only did they share physical sensations, but they also shared emotions and, when they were strong enough, thoughts.

Just as Grimmjow was currently demonstrating.

The older man allowed his shoulders to droop slightly, relenting in his non-verbal (sorta… if you weren't counting the thoughts that were slipping through their connection) battle. Instead of saying the words that were slithering at the back of his mind (dirty, naughty words), Grimmjow asked, "So how'd it go?"

Ichigo abruptly stood up from the chair and made his way to one of the lockers, quickly stripping down and expertly changing into one of the waiter uniforms. Ignoring the stare that was surely lingering on his ass, Ichigo tossed a mysterious smile to his boyfriend and side-stepped the question. "Never mind that. Business looks busy today so I'll help out. Besides, you want to get back to work now, right?" Shutting the locker with a snap, the red head made his way past Grimmjow and to the door, shaking his hips slightly as he walked. With one last smile, Ichigo stepped out of the portal, allowing the door to shut behind him.

Standing frozen in the changing room, Grimmjow stared at the door, emotions in a chaotic hurricane after that taunting display. He really wanted nothing more than to stalk after his lover and drag him back in the room for a little fun, but at the same time, he wanted to immerse himself in the craziness that he called work. After a few moments of contemplation, a grateful smile won out on his features and he made his way back to the kitchen. That was one of the things he loved about Ichigo. He understood his workaholic tendencies and was perfectly fine with it.

Either way, there would be time for those kinds of entertaining activities after closing hours. He pushed the tempting thoughts (and hovering fantasies) aside and scrunched his nose in thought. Ichigo had deliberately ignored and cast his question aside. Now he wanted nothing more than to follow him and bug him into answering.

But, again, he could always corner him after closing hours…

Grimmjow pushed open the door leading to the kitchen, intending to immerse himself him in work. Soon enough, the hours would have passed by and he would get his answer from Ichigo.

**

* * *

**

"Good night!"

Grimmjow sighed as the last employee disappeared into the main entrance, allowing himself to sink into the leather of the booth seat. Today was a hard day. It was always a chaotic mess during the weekends. Even worse was the fact that it was only Friday—the weekend had only just begun. He allowed his head to fall with a dull thunk to the table-top, releasing a cleansing breath of air when he felt the cool temperature.

Running a popular restaurant was hard work.

He almost jumped when he suddenly felt a pressure on his shoulders, relaxing when he realized who it was.

"Ichi…" His lover was unable to see the small smile that had stretched across his lips. A groan fell from his mouth when the hands began to work into his muscles, pressing and rubbing in soothing circles.

"You were quite busy today. Tired yet?" He heard the spark of concern in his voice. But that wasn't what tipped him off to the worry that his boyfriend was radiating—it was the link. He could feel a bubble of concern at the back of his mind—something that Ichigo probably didn't know that he was projecting across the connection. As if reading his mind, Ichigo pressed a little harder into the massage and the bubble in the back of his head popped, as if it had never been there in the first place. He allowed himself a chuckle.

"You were about as busy as I was, if not busier," he mumbled out, recalling the few glimpses he had seen of Ichigo darting around with the different orders. It was getting steadily harder for him to speak. He was practically melting into Ichigo's skilled hands. Damn, the man knew how to give a good massage.

All of a sudden, his mind kicked into gear, the drooling, puddled mass congealing into solidity once more when he realized that he had been meaning to ambush the red head after closing hours. Almost regretfully, Grimmjow pulled away from the pleasant pressure of Ichigo's palms and sat up, tapping the table and giving the younger man a pointed look.

Concerned features shifted into a somewhat guarded expression as Ichigo circled around to sit in the seat directly across from his lover. Grimmjow propped an elbow on the table-top, resting his chin in his palm as he stared his boyfriend down. After a few moments of contemplation, he raised an eyebrow. "You were avoiding my question earlier," he simply stated, already knowing that he would understand exactly what he was talking about.

He wasn't really too sure what to expect when restating the question. He had, of course, assumed when Ichigo had avoided the answer, that there was going to be bad news. Maybe he had expected a depressed expression, or even a withdrawn, accepting expression. Grimmjow had _not, _however, been expecting the grin that bloomed across those tantalizing lips.

Brown eyes sparkled as Ichigo leaned forward a bit, setting both elbows on the table and propping his chin up on his twined fingers, a picture of childishness. "I am now an official doctor of Society Hospital."

Electric blue eyes widened slightly and Grimmjow's mouth dropped slightly. He wasn't surprised, but… He stood up and leaned across the table in a flash, ignoring the way Ichigo seemed to jump, caught off guard. Without warning, he captured the man's lips, giving him a hard, firm kiss. He pulled away, catching Ichigo's eye for a moment before leaning in once more, pressing his lips softly to the pair that he had grown to know so well for the past five years. He put everything he could into that kiss, letting the emotional warmth that had spread through his body seep through the connection. Grimmjow moved back, palms resting on the table as he watched his lover, smiling when he noticed how stunned the red head was.

"I knew you could do it. I'm so proud of you."

Ichigo looked back up, locking eyes with him. The bewildered expression melted into one of affection, a smile curving at his mouth. "Thank you."

Grimmjow walked around the table and slid into the booth beside Ichigo, wrapping an arm around him. Pressing the orange haired man's head to his collar-bone, the two fell into a blissful silence, each lost in their own thoughts. After a moment, Ichigo said, "I've been thinking…"

Snapping from his thoughts, Grimmjow glanced down, giving up on watching his lover's face when the only thing he got was a face-full of orange hair. Instead, he trained his eyes on the seat that he had been occupying only minutes before. He grunted, signaling for Ichigo to continue. There was a couple of seconds of hesitation before Ichigo continued. "I don't want to stay a doctor there for very long." Grimmjow blinked, a little confused, but stayed quiet, knowing that the younger man would expand on his thoughts.

"I think I want to open up my own clinic, like my dad did back home."

He squeezed the man in his arms, nuzzling his nose into the vanilla-scented hair. Grimmjow gave a low chuckle when something of a squawk issued from beneath him. "Go for it. You would have the experience from back home and from the hospital. And you could always have Szayel handle the finances. We both know he does wonders for the restaurant." He smirked slightly at the thought of their pink-haired friend.

When Pantera had opened, Grimmjow had handed the accounts over to him, having him handle all of the financial affairs that came with it. He didn't know what the man's job title was exactly, but all that he knew was he was supposed to handle the organization of business finances. Grimmjow could handle it himself, but he already had enough to deal with. He knew that Szayel would be good for the job and so far hadn't been disappointed.

Ichigo chuckled in his arms, shaking his head slightly. "No kidding. I might just do that." He curved his neck back, planting a kiss on Grimmjow's chin. "Come on. We can talk more about that later. We need to get home."

After one more brief squeeze, Grimmjow stood up, pulling Ichigo along after him and made his way to the entrance, hand entwined with the red-head's.

**

* * *

**

The door slowly shut behind them, the click almost deafening in the dark quietness that was their shared apartment. It was much larger than the previous separate ones that they had both been renting out, not that they much cared. They just wanted somewhere that they could both live. Grimmjow and Ichigo had only been living together for a good year—they had decided to combine their living quarters when the foundations for the restaurant had just been finished up. It was about that time that Ichigo had started on his last year of college and they had figured it was a fitting award for themselves.

After a few seconds of fumbling, Ichigo finally managed to locate the turn knob for the standing lamp in the living room. He let out a small chuckle as Grimmjow tripped slightly over the rug, abruptly stopping as the older man aimed a rather dark look back at him. Shaking his head in mirth, he followed after his lover, planting his palms on the man's shoulders, intending to steer him to the bedroom so that he could get some much-deserved sleep.

The red head was quite surprised, therefore, when Grimmjow spun around in his hold, slinking his arms around him with a devious smirk. The blue haired man nuzzled into his jaw, brushing lightly against the lobe of his ear. Swallowing the quiet moan that had crawled up the back of his throat, he instead asked, "What are you doing?"

It was a fairly obvious answer, but even then, Ichigo felt it necessary to ask. He wrapped his arms loosely around Grimmjow in return, eyebrow raised in contempt. Honestly. Did the man ever have anything _else _on his mind? Not to mention… hadn't he been tired just a few minutes earlier?

He was startled out of his inner ramblings when he felt a light nip on the shell of his ear. "I think that's fairly obvious. I'm giving you your reward for doing so good today…" Grimmjow's voice rumbled in his ear, causing a whole slew of goosebumps to break out down his neck. When Ichigo gave a quiet 'really?', the older man answered in the affirmative, taking large steps backwards in order to lead them to their shared bedroom.

Ichigo shook his head slightly, fighting the urge to giggle when blue hair tickled at his neck. They quickly found themselves in the bedroom and Grimmjow quickly turned and deposited him upon the maroon and black comforter. Finding himself momentarily perplexed by the sudden loss of heat, Ichigo sat up as best as he could, supported by one arm before situating himself upright. Almost immediately Grimmjow was on his other side, having circled around the queen-sized mattress. The soft material dipped under the blue haired man's weight as he climbed onto the bed and made his way closer to the middle, where his boyfriend currently sat.

Grimmjow murmured quiet words of affection, too low for Ichigo to understand what was being said. Where Ichigo had originally assumed that Grimmjow had wanted something of a more sexual nature, he found himself a bit surprised when he had instead began a comforting massage. Rough palms quickly shed him of his shirt, already working at the muscles of his shoulders. Grimmjow's thumbs ran in pressurized, reassuring circles, working in one individual spot for a few moments before moving to soothe another knotted muscle. Before long, Ichigo found himself lying on his stomach, groaning quietly as Grimmjow slowly made his way down the young man's back.

The pads of his fingers paused for a moment, hovering a few inches above Ichigo's lower back. After a split second decision, Grimmjow's hands were moving once more, now on a mission. Ichigo seemed to sense the change in intentions, for when a roughly padded fingertip brushed against his sides, the younger man released a moan and squirmed.

A smirk formed upon slightly chapped lips. Grimmjow sat atop the smaller-frame of his lover and guided his hand up the tan plane of Ichigo's back, caressing the jut of one of the red head's shoulder blades. When he didn't get much of response (which was surely being held back) he trailed his hand over to the other shoulder blade, smirk widening at the quiet groan that reverberated through the body below him. He scoot forward, lightly seating himself on his lover's back and leaned forward, breath tickling Ichigo's ear as he seductively murmured, "Now it's time for that reward, Ichi."

Noticing that Ichigo had bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut at that quiet promise, he quickly set to work. No longer aiming to give relief, his hands set to the task of building tension in the man below him, giving him fleeting touches. He started around the neck, brushing slightly against orange hairs at the nape and tracing the shoulders, fingertips dancing against toned biceps. After a few moments of this, his hands were on the move once more, palms grazing the ridges of Ichigo's spine and splitting off to lightly rub at the man's sides once more.

When he felt Ichigo squirm once more, he lifted himself onto his knees. Feeling the relief of pressure off of his back, the red head flipped over below him, back against the comforter as he eyed Grimmjow from his lower position. "I should have known that it wouldn't have been just a simple massage." Though he tried to hide it, there was a slight hitch to his words, showing that he had the beginnings of a loss of breath. Grimmjow's smirk lost all playfulness and became something that a predator would wear.

Surely whatever Grimmjow was planning wasn't good for his health.

**

* * *

**

Ichigo had quickly sat up as best as he could, huffing, sweating, and totally red, wrapping his arms around his older lover so that he wouldn't fall. Sex had always been a bit more intense for Grimmjow—it was simply the way that their connection worked. He had come to terms with this and took it as a sign for him to take control of the 'after' situation. He carefully maneuvered his lower-half away from the blue haired man and gave a quiet moan, feeling an abrupt sense of loss. He leaned Grimmjow against the pile of numerous pillows, smiling at the flushed, glassy eyed look that the man was sporting. After quickly cleaning the both of them up, Ichigo brushed the back of his hand against his boyfriend's cheek, softly smiling once more when the glassy look dissipated from the electric blue depths.

Without so much as a single word, he settled into Grimmjow's lap, pulling the comforter up around them and snuggling into the warmth his lover provided. The arms that wrapped around him were loose and comfortable. He always loved this moment—just after the sex.

It was like a quiet understanding between the two. They didn't need words—they never had. This was something of a sacred moment, where they rested after a physical connection and something of an emotional and mental connection was secured. It wasn't necessarily the supernatural connection that they had—it was something more base, indescribable.

Both men stared at nothing in particular, instead turning to their thoughts. Ichigo's thoughts wandered as they always had, wandering from one thought to the next. After shifting from the idea of the connection, he thought of something else. He found himself giggling, recalling one of his precious memories.

The arms tightened around him; a silent question. The only thing that he said in return was: "Do you love me?" His tone was teasing and light, low chuckles erupting from his chest. He could feel Grimmjow smile against his hair before a chaste kiss was planted on the crown of his head.

"Yes," Grimmjow simply replied, shaking his head slightly. Ichigo burst into small chuckles, completely amused. At one point, that particular reply would have blown him away (and actually had), but now… he wanted nothing more than to hear it on a regular basis. He couldn't live without his daily dose of Grimmjow. They lapped into silence once more, Ichigo latching onto his thoughts of their connection again.

In a way, it fit.

Grimmjow had always been too stubborn and prideful to admit that he could get hurt. Because of his tendency to 'be a man' and 'suck it up', he would suffer in silence. Had they not had the connection, Ichigo would have been scared that he would lose the older man to a physical injury.

On the other hand, Ichigo was stubborn to admit that he was pleased by certain sensations. While Grimmjow was a stuck-up bastard, he was still human. He needed reassurance that Ichigo honestly and truly liked the physical sensations that he was giving him. The connection allowed him to feel the pleasure that the red head felt and reassured him.

Their connection on the emotional level was totally reversed. Ichigo felt all of Grimmjow's positive emotions while Grimmjow would feel all of his negative. It was also rather suitable. The blue haired man felt rather awkward in expressing his feelings, so it was a bit hard for Ichigo to comprehend that he felt happy around him. Ichigo had a tendency to stew in his anger and hate rather than say something aloud, so the connection allowed for them to have a better understanding of one another and avoid unnecessary complications (like second-guessing each other's feelings and unknowingly hurting one another). Though they could keep a harness on their emotions and keep them from filtering through the connection, when they were particularly powerful, there was no holding them back.

It was nice to know that they could get their feelings across without the necessity of words (that would undoubtedly be rather awkward).

Lastly was their connection on the mental level. They could share their thoughts. Point blank. There was no negative or positive aspects to that part of the connection. They could share words mentally, but it wasn't really something they preferred. Out loud or internally, they were crap at socializing—they would be awkward no matter what. There were times when they used it though. It was particularly useful in the middle of crowds when they had something to say to one another that they didn't want others to hear.

Ichigo frowned. _Yeah, _he thought rather blithely, eyes staring unseeingly at the maroon of the fluffy comforter, _More like _Grimmjow _likes to use it for dirty talk. _Grimmjow found it immensely funny to watch Ichigo writhe to the promising words in the midst of their friends. He hadn't been kidding when he had said he was a sadist all those years ago.

He found himself falling back into thought once more, eyes trailing up to the textured ceiling. He hadn't really realized it, but him and Grimmjow were so different. They each had their own needs and worries, and as odd as it was, the connection reflected those perfectly.

They always seemed to contradict one another.

Ichigo smiled lightly to himself, finding it rather ironically amusing. Grimmjow looked down at him slightly, noticing that Ichigo had been rather quiet for a while. "What are you thinking about?" He inquired, locking his electric blue eyes with the brilliant brown that he had come to love. His voice was slightly hoarse and rumbled, showing that he was still feeling the effects of the orgasm but was able to function like normal. Ichigo merely shook his head in response, a small, mysterious smile on his lips.

Grimmjow searched the depths of his eyes, stretching his senses out a bit and focusing on their connection. When he sensed no negative emotions from Ichigo, however, he merely frowned and tilted his head, letting the matter go. There was a moment where he paused, staring off at nothing as he seemed to debate on something before he snapped back into himself. Grimmjow wriggled beneath him, slowly maneuvering Ichigo off of his lap and he twisted to plant his feet on the floor. Not really caring about his state of undress, Grimmjow shoved the covers off of himself and stood up, making his way to the bedroom door. Ichigo watched his every move, raising an eyebrow when the taller man paused in the doorway.

Tossing a quick smirk over his shoulder, Grimmjow said, "I'm gonna go get you water and some painkillers. I have a feeling you're gonna need them in the morning." He made his way toward the kitchen, laughing at Ichigo's immediate grumbling.

As he watched the tan-skinned man disappear around the corner, Ichigo allowed himself to relax into the pillows, blowing out a contented sigh, a smile working its way onto pink lips.

_He may be a bit conceited… a little overconfident… a bit of an asshole…_

Ichigo cut himself off, twitching slightly. The list of negatives could go on for quite a while… He shook his head, smile inching onto his face once more as his eyes softened, hands fisting the thick comforter lightly.

_But he's sweet and thoughtful in his own way._

His eyes blinked back into focus, slowly trailing from the maroon and black of the bed to the white textured ceiling. His gaze rested there for a moment before his eyes slid shut, the corner of his lips quirking.

"I'm glad he's the one I'm connected to…" he murmured, the words unheard by anyone but himself, lost in the empty room.

No matter how much they seemed to fight and clash heads, no matter how they contradict one another, they both knew that as long as they were together, they would remain happy.

And that was just the way they liked it.

**-Chapter/Story End-**

Haha, you guys got lucky. A whole 3 extra days of the uncut version. I've (sadly) been sick for the past couple of days (still am), so I haven't really had the chance to edit. I just got out from under my painkiller-induced high, so I decided that I'd better post. So here it is.

Hope you guys enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! You have been wonderful supporters and I look forward to hearing from you through my future works. :D

A/N: Review?


End file.
